Teach Me
by The Entity
Summary: Meliodas is the son of his school's principal, or one of them at least. The school being run by his father and some control freak as co-principals. Dealing with it up to senior year was easy enough. Until a wrench is thrown into the gears of his life, causing all sorts of changes in himself and his routine. (Art by Vitsuie on Tumblr. Thank you for the wonderful art!)
1. Chapter 1: Eavesdropping

**Hello to all you appreciated readers! Welcome to my first Seven Deadly Sins FanFic! Just some quick notes that I'll be keeping short for the sake of getting to the point of coming here. I'm not going to be able to upload to this consistently, I have two other fics being worked on right now and I also have university and other personal obligations that come first. The M rating might not show through in this chapter, or even the next couple, but it's a safety net for what's likely to come in the future. With that out of the way though, Enjoy the reading! I really appreciate any and all reviews! Thank you so much to JacklynnFrost for betaing this for me and helping me out with this fic! If you haven't, please go check out her fics! She's a great writer and has written some amazing Seven Deadly Sins fics!**

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Chapter 1: Eavesdropping

"You're getting ahead of yourself Zeldris." My eyes are forward as we walk the empty halls. My hands rest on the back of my head. Dad called us both to the office, reasons that were not given quickly took hold of poor Zeldris who's panicking by my side. Zeldris glares at me in response to my words, I don't need to look at him to know it, he's not the subtle type after all. It's probably because I'm calm and he's feeling as if his world is about to collapse in on itself.

"How are you so sure of yourself? What makes you think that he hasn't found out about Gelda?" Zeldris' voice is fuming, ahhh, young love. Zeldris and Gelda have been meeting in secret, stealing moments and all that outside of our father's sight. I think it's cute, but he gets defensive whenever I even lightly comment on it. Touchy subject for him, free fun for me.

I grin smugly as I spare him a side glance. He didn't get the blond family hair like me, but he certainly got the mess. People always ask if we're twins despite the difference, the answer being a strained and insulted no from him, while I say yes just to see him get angry in response. "Because even if he did know he wouldn't call us to see him during school, I doubt he'd even make a point of it to begin with. Knowing him he'd probably leave it alone and hope that you leave her on your own. If he ignores it then he doesn't draw attention to it, which saves his reputation." I felt that it was pretty clear that father would see things that way. I'm just surprised Zeldris hasn't this past year of being with her and all. I do add on to that point with, "Also any time that you two would be in his gaze you're so chaste that I worry you forget that we're not going to a bible school." I grin wide, knowing how he'll take that.

"What do you think it is then?" Zeldris hisses at me, his eyes narrowed in a glare. He knows I'm right, he just wants to posture. I place a finger to my lips to hush him, the halls are quiet, if he keeps being so loud and obnoxious then we'll get called out for disturbing a class. He rolls his eyes, clearly hating me at the moment. I just snicker, his irritation and annoyance is my entertainment after all.

"Hell if I know. Probably just wants to yell at us some more." I offer as an answer, Zeldris winces a bit at that.

"Don't you think he did it enough this morning?" He asks. At this point his fits don't actually bother us, they're just annoying white noise with how much he does it. The worst it does is inconvenience us and our schedules.

"Maybe Mrs. Deus got on his nerves and he needs a healthy way to vent his frustration." I offer with a chuckle. He's always hated having to share his power with her. The two sharing the principal role of the school for some reason beyond anybody's understanding.

"Maybe he's found out about your secret girlfriend instead of mine." Zeldris tries to prod, and I look at him in shock.

My shock seems to convince him that he's found something on me, until I open my mouth at least, "He has? I hope he'll tell me who she is because I wasn't aware of her myself!" I smirk smugly as Zeldris rapidly deflates.

"You've been single forever, it's actually just stupid considering how many girls are after you, like that Diane chick that's always fawning over you." I cringe a bit at the thought. I don't know her well, and I'm honest when I say I'm not that interested in getting to know her out of fear for my life. Her height and strength is actually terrifying even for me. She once arm wrestled Galand, the football captain, and nearly broke his arm, and then proceeded to do the same with the entire rest of the football team. To say the least the game that followed didn't go so well as a result of a cheerleader not only breaking arms but also breaking prides.

"Don't tell me, I'm more than aware of them. I wish that I wasn't." I shake my head. Not finding an interest in any of the girls. Not to say they're not nice people or unappealing, I'm just not romantically interested in them.

"You know if you don't swing that way I won't-"

"Shut up!" I shove Zeldris, cutting him out and laughing it off as he just snickers in return. "It's alright for me to not have a girlfriend, it's not a requirement to have one as a senior."

He's about to retort, but he cuts himself off as we come face to face with the principal's office. Zeldris gestures for me to go ahead, and I roll my eyes as I mouth at him 'wuss' and open the door. I walk in to see the poor secretary that has to work for both our father and Mrs. Deus. We wave at her as we walk in and she doesn't even look up from her computer to acknowledge us. We take that as it's fine to go into our father's office. Both their offices are down a small hall, and as we pass the door to Mrs. Deus' office I hear her talking rather heatedly. I look at Zeldris with a raised eyebrow, and he returns the look. We both shake it off once we get to our father's office, which already has the door open. Inside it's clean and well decorated, pictures of our family together, his achievements, as well as a couple of paintings for some reason. If this office wasn't looked after by the janitors though it would be too messy to even walk in here without stepping on something that isn't tile floor.

Dad is typing away at his computer, seeming to know that we're here. I cough into my fist to try and get his attention, which fails miserably. I give Zeldris a side glance in annoyance. He just shrugs. It's not new for him to do this, doesn't make it less annoying in my opinion. We both walk over to and take seats in front of his desk, which is the only part that the janitors don't touch, meaning that papers are strewn all over it in some madman's perception of orderly.

It takes a full minute of us waiting for him to finish what he's doing, not even acknowledging that we're here, before he presses enter and turns to face us finally. He has long blond hair, and a scruffy bit of hair on his chin. The only reason that his hair isn't pointing up in every direction like me and Zeldris is because it's so long that it's forced to be weighed down. Not to say that it isn't still messy in spite of that. He gives us a smile, and I feel myself gagging internally. He only ever smiles when he expects us to do something for him in school. It's a sick and cruel smile that turns my stomach. At least when he bosses us around at home he doesn't bother with the smile, I'd be hospitalized with an intense allergic reaction to it if he did. "Glad you two came as quickly as you did." 'No you're not.' Goes through my head and when I glance at Zeldris I can tell he's just as unconvinced.

"What do you want already?" I ask as I slouch back in the chair, rapidly losing interest in formality with the man who doesn't even bother to clear his desk once in a blue moon. I can feel Zeldris staring at me as though I had just told our old man to jump off a cliff, which I would have much preferred saying if I knew he'd do it at my request, but I'm not exactly looking to die just yet.

"I appreciate your eagerness Meliodas." 'No you don't.' Springs into my mind again. "I need you both to listen in on Mrs. Deus for me. She got a call a bit ago from someone I've never heard of before, and she started having a fit before closing her door. I was enjoying it, but now I know she's hiding something, and I don't want my dear partner to be hiding things from me." The way he says dear sends a bit of a chill up my spine. My own father has such a knack for discomforting me in all the most unappreciated ways. "I'm going to go tell her I'm heading out to handle some business back home, or something like that, and I'll leave the door cracked open so you two can listen in. Whatever you find out, let me know when you get home." He doesn't even leave us room to tell him to screw off. Not that we would say such a thing, I quite like having food in my belly, and I'd rather not be starved of it for a week.

"Fine." Zeldris says, crossing his arms in annoyance. I glance over at him, and while he seems like his usual hard self I can tell he's relaxed, knowing that it isn't Gelda that brought us here.

I can't hold my tongue back when I ask, "I guess that means we're not getting driven home today?" I grin playfully as I watch dad's eye twitch at that. He doesn't even acknowledge it, standing and walking around the desk and out of the room. Zeldris gives me a look and I can tell he wishes that I'd curl up and die one of these days. Sadly for him that's nowhere in my agenda.

We follow him out into the corridor and I walk around to the other side of her office door, leaning my back against it while Zeldris does the same on the other side. The secretary looks up finally and I see her look over at us, roll her eyes, then go back to typing as though she saw nothing. She's used to this happening, I wouldn't be surprised if Mrs. Deus does it to dad too, it just makes it more amusing how they're oblivious to the other using the same tactic of eavesdropping on the other.

Dad knocks on the door and doesn't wait for a response before opening the door and poking his head in. The talking that I heard her doing cuts off at his presence. "Just letting you know that I'm going home early, I-"

"Just fuck off already!" Mrs. Deus' light voice snaps. I have to choke myself to hold back my laughter, eyes wide in shock at hearing her swear. Mrs. Deus' voice is very gentle and motherly with people. She calms down even the rowdiest teens just by talking to them, and hearing that gentle motherly voice tell my father to fuck off is the single greatest point in my life so far. I glance over at Zeldris and I can tell he's struggling with me.

"Alrighty then." Dad says awkwardly, having his planned excuse smacked in his face. He doesn't fully close the door, leaving it open just a crack, which is enough for us to hear what's going on. He doesn't even look at Zeldris or I as he walks off, waving goodbye to the secretary who miraculously has gotten lost in her computer once more and just happens to miss it.

"I'm back, now listen to me when I tell you this time." I raise an eyebrow curiously at Zeldris, who gives me the same look. It's clearly not a business call of any type. "I'm not... No you listen to me now, Bartra!" Bartra? I've never heard that name mentioned before. Clearly neither has dad. "Don't you try telling me how to handle things! I gave you the responsibility out of the kindness of my heart!" 'What heart?' pops into my head and I snicker to myself, earning a confused look from Zeldris.

There's a moment of silence. I worry that she might have heard me. It drags on, no noise of any kind, I hear Mrs. Deus fuming though clear as day. It's like she's a steam engine ready to explode.

"No!" I jump in my skin at the sudden shout. I look over at the secretary who's stuck in earbuds. Probably a good choice. "I'm not listening to this Bartra! You're just getting uppity with me without cause! No! I'm losing patience now Bartra and I'm a very patient woman!" Humble is a different story though. "I... I... Let me speak! No!" I'm getting dizzy listening to this. It's entertaining to hear her so livid with such an angered tone, but I'm waiting for that important part that dad was after. It just sounds like a boring personal dispute right now. "She's not your daughter Bartra! Your daughters left you already!" Oh shit, that's harsh. Wait, who? "Bartra I'm at the end of my... I'm at the end of my patience, so quit this incessant... I'm about to make you regret this call Bartra!" I look at Zeldris who's wide eyed and shocked at what he's hearing.

There's silence. I think whoever Bartra is might have hung up on her. I don't even hear her heated breathing anymore. I look over at Zeldris and point to my head, then spin my finger in a circle, he nods, agreeing with my assessment that she's gone crazy finally, it was only a matter of time.

I'm about to signal that we should leave when she straight up yells. "That's it! I'm taking Elizabeth back! Have her ready by tomorrow morning!" There's a crack as I believe she slams the phone down. I'm wide eyed a bit. Elizabeth? Who on Earth is that? And why is Mrs. Deus 'taking her back?' I look at Zeldris, hoping that he'll give me some inkling of an idea of what's going on, but he just shakes his head, just as lost as I am. "That fucking inbred left the door open again." She growls as she pushes her chair out from behind her rather audibly. 'Oh shit!' Springs into my mind, and I think Zeldris has the same line of thought as we bolt out of the office as fast as possible before she can catch us.

Neither of us talk on the way back to class. Both processing what we heard in our own minds. She's taking back a girl that this Bartra guy had as like a daughter, but she wasn't his daughter, and Mrs. Deus is taking her back, after letting him take responsibility for her out of the kindness of Mrs. Deus' heart? That's a lot to consider but it's the summary that dad will want. I've never heard anything about Mrs. Deus having any form of family, so this is just all news. Is the girl she's referring to her own daughter? Elizabeth, huh?

* * *

"Bahahahah!" Galand roars his laughter and I roll my eyes. He's a large muscle guy, and also the loudest person in the entire school. He slams his hand on the table dramatically, Zeldris and I having finished recounting what we had heard from Mrs. Deus earlier. It's lunch time so everyone's sat around the cafeteria. Our group of ten old friends sat around at our usual table. I cross my arms and lean on the table, waiting for Galand's laughter to die down. It really wasn't that funny. "I cannot believe truthfully that Mrs. Deus would tell your father to 'fuck off.' You must be joking?"

Zeldris and I shake our heads in unison. Galand strokes his chin, trying to get a read on us, still suspicious of the story I guess, before he snickers and relents. "You're insufferable, you know that Gal?" Melascula looks up at him, her back against his torso and legs stretched out across the bench.

"Sometimes I wish you'd get off me." Galand comments, his gaze not even going to her, his arms crossing at his chest as though he expects her to get off of him at that.

"Only if you shut up for the next five minutes." Melascula offers with a wry grin. She offers up her hand to shake and he shakes his head, then takes it and shakes on it. At that Melascula moves to sit properly at the table.

"If you two are done playing couple," Galand and Melascula simultaneously cast their glares towards Fraudrin, who just shrugs them off. "I'm curious about why we've never even heard of Mrs. Deus having a family. I would imagine that kind of information is important as a principal."

"Didn't you pay attention Fraudrin?" Monspeet asks, seeming genuinely curious. Fraudrin nods slowly, seeming to be only slightly insulted at his question. "If you were then you should have picked up on the why we've never heard."

"Simple. Her daughter was living with a relative." Derieri adds simply. Leaning her head against Monspeet's shoulder. Her arms cross as she's huddled up against the guy.

"You mean to say that Elizabeth was living with an extended family member, this Bartra, who's likely a grandfather or uncle of some kind who took her in. Likely as a result of Mrs. Deus being a neglectful and all around vile person who is the least qualified person to handle being a mother, and thus earned enough hate from her daughter to want to leave to live with anyone but her?" Derieri nods at Monspeet's extensive description.

"I'm now curious as to how you extrapolated such an extensive description from so little. How do you always do that?" Glox asks, leaning his elbows on the table and holding his head in his hands. His full name is Gloxinia, but he says his parents are ridiculous for giving him such a name so he goes by Glox now. Monspeet just raises his middle finger at Glox, who in response jerks back as though he were shot in the heart, gripping over his chest. "You hurt me Monspeet, you really hurt me."

Gray yawns in boredom, waving his hand dismissively at the two. "If you guys are going to throw punches let me know so I can take my leave early."

"For a pacifist you don't do much to stop fighting do you?" Fraudrin asks. Gray just shrugs and lays his head down, closing his eyes to nap. I shake my head a bit. Watching everyone go back and forth is normal really, it's no less annoying though.

"Meliodas." Drole's speaking my name wakes me up and back into the conversation. I perk up and look over at him. Drole is blind in his left eye, meaning that it doesn't follow where his other eye goes quite as well, and has a pale look to it. I'd feel worse for him if, even in spite of the issue, he weren't one of the strongest people I know. If it weren't for the eye, he'd have joined the football team more than likely, but only having one eye ruins depth perception, which is somewhat important in football. "Do you think that this Elizabeth is going to be stuffed with Mrs. Deus' precious 'angels' when she gets here?"

I shiver at the thought. Four of them is annoying enough, having a fifth goody two shoes teacher's pet would be insufferable. I hope not. Besides, what're the odds that this Elizabeth is a senior like us? She's probably still in elementary school or something." Some nods are given in response. It makes no sense to me to just assume that she's our age. It's more than likely that Elizabeth was just living with some extended relative for a while. It makes more sense to me that Elizabeth is a more recent conundrum for Mrs. Deus and that's why it's not been brought up before.

"Whatever it is," Glox speaks up, crossing his legs under the table and resting one elbow on the table this time, and holding his head with the connected hand. "All it means is that Mrs. Deus is going to have something else to deal with outside of school, so your father and her will probably be on more even ground now." I just shrug.

I look over at Galand who's stare hasn't left the clock on the wall by the doors to the lunchroom. I don't know if he's hoping to make it go faster by staring at it or what. "It's such a peaceful quiet isn't it Melio?" I cringe a bit at the nickname. Diane is only one of the girls that try making advances on me, Melascula likes to try her hand at it more often than I'll ever be comfortable with.

"Anyways." Zeldris interrupts so I don't have to respond. I let out a sigh of relief, while Melascula glares daggers at Zeldris for interrupting her doomed to fail advance. "We're going to have to walk home now since father dearest decided to make the excuse of going home early, which lucky for us, wasn't a bluff."

Galand abruptly lets out a loud breath, as though he had been holding it in along with his voice. Melascula deadpans at the bulky lad. "I said no talking, not no breathing."

"You two live a ten minute walk away what are you complaining about?" Galand asks with his now freshly freed voice. Though I don't think that it has actually been five minutes yet, Melascula wasn't likely keeping track herself though.

"We're not complaining," I explain, a smug grin on my lips as I know Galand lives about an hour away by bus. "It's just so inconvenient to have to walk when we're used to the pampered lifestyle of being driven back by our dear father."

I smirk as he seems to growl at me, his fists clenching on the table as he scowls. "You're so easily angered." Melascula comments rubbing her temples in annoyance with Galand.

"I am Galand the Truth! I do not lie even in my body language! If I am upset or angered I do not stuff it down behind false amusement!" Galand proclaims and Everyone's chuckling at it besides Melascula, who just rolls her eyes.

"Galand the Over-dramatic is more like it." Melascula mumbles as she drops her face against the table in frustration at the man. Everyone but Galand this time chuckles at this. Galand just glares at her, while she returns the glare with her head on the table.

Just then the bell rings, signaling the end of lunch. Everyone gets up and gathers together their stuff. Melascula and Galand walking off together first in spite of their animosity between them, then Fraudrin and Gray head off, followed by Monspeet with Derieri in tow. I wave to Glox and Drole who are last to finish getting their stuff together before Zeldris and I. Technically I've been ready since the bell rang. Zeldris is just being slow, and I know why. "I'll be waiting for you in class Zeldris." I say and he looks at me incredulously. I give him a playful smirk, "Don't spend too long making googly eyes at her." I turn and leave before he can retaliate with anything. The smirk still across my lips as I take my leave for class.

* * *

"Elizabeth, huh?" Father looks at us curiously, leaning forward in his arm chair, one eyebrow quirked up. Zeldris and I nod in confirmation. He then leans back in his seat. Tapping his fingers together in silent thought. "Hmm. I heard her say the name Bartra, I knew I recognized the name somewhere so I did some looking." He talks mostly to himself, I don't think he's expecting us to talk anymore as now it's his turn to talk I guess. You'd think he was starved of spotlight attention in the couple hours he had to spend sitting around here at home doing nothing. "Bartra was the previous principle of the school before Deus and I took over. He retired and the superintendent made his younger sister my co-principal." I think I see him shiver at the memory of the event. I knew that the two hated each other long before having to cooperate as principals but I hardly imagined it was this intense.

"That's not important though. Around eighteen years ago, at the time that I was busy preparing to have to deal with you Meliodas," I pretend to not be insulted, it's a skill at this point that I've mastered. "She took off for a year, claiming family emergencies. Of course I was never given any details beyond that. I actually look back on that year with fondness of being the only principal for a time. Then I had a son." An absolute skill. "But when she came back she was certainly grouchier for about I'd say six or seven years, until she came in and happily declared that she had gotten her brother to take a 'massive distraction,' as she worded it I believe, off her hands. I didn't think anything of it at the time. But judging by this recent call, it seems she had a daughter, whom she apparently threw away to be dealt with by her brother."

I'm left silently processing this for a moment. Zeldris on the other hand jumps right into speaking again, "Bartra must have pissed her off beyond belief then if she's taking Elizabeth back from him." I glance over at Zeldris, shocked that he's just rolling with this so casually. I agree that Deus is a bitch and lacks any and all skills needed to be a mother, but to treat her daughter like such a nuisance and neglect her for so long, only to forcefully drag her back seems a bit more than just the regular Deus scheme, it just seems cruel.

"I don't care too much about whatever it is that Bartra did." Father waves it off and I grin as Zeldris sags a bit at the dismissal. "What matters is keeping her out of her precious group of angels. I've made a habit of limiting her number of ass kissers to four at any given time and I'd like for it to stay that way for as long as we're forced to work together." I raise an eyebrow at this. So she will be attending our school then? It makes sense really, After all it turns out she's my age, probably a senior too, so I shouldn't be surprised. "Meliodas." I stiffen when he speaks my name, standing at full attention. "Order yourself and your brother a pizza or something, use my card, consider it a reward for eavesdropping and an apology for not driving you two home. I'm going to my study. Keep it down."

With that our father leaves us. I blink at the doorway he left through, Zeldris doing the same I think. I look over at him, and we both share a grin.

Approximately one hour later I'm relaxing in the couch in the living room, Zeldris in the arm chair father had been occupying, and in front of us is way more pizza than either of us ever planned to eat. I snicker at the thought of dad's annoyance when he discovers how much we ordered. One more yelling fit to add to the list.

"I can't believe I let you do this." Zeldris says as he picks up a slice and puts it on his plate, leaning back in the chair once he has it securely on the plate. I shrug with a smirk.

"You had the same thought, you're just as guilty in this case." I retort. Too full to eat any more. I chuckle as he flips me off while taking a bite from his hopefully final slice. "Would you prefer that I made us pizza instead of ordered it?"

"I think I'd rather be stuck in a room with Melascula and Galand for an eternity than eat your food." He fires back and I wince at that one.

"I'd say that's harsh but I have to agree, that is preferable." Zeldris shakes his head. I just grin at him though. At the back of my mind, however, I'm preoccupied with thoughts on who this Elizabeth girl is. Dad may be a pain, but I could never imagine just being tossed away like I were less than trash by my own parent. Then years later be taken back without any say. Though if she's my age she is of age to declare independence so she could still end up not even showing up.

"What's the plan then for this Elizabeth girl then, Meliodas?" I look at Zeldris in shock. He's got one eyebrow quirked up. "If she does end up coming to school that is. I think that Deus was just bluffing to scare her brother out of whatever that argument started over." I'm silent for once in my life, which scares me a bit more than the question itself. "We gonna scare her off out of the school? Wish we had gotten to Ludociel and his gang of angels before they got too rooted in. We could stop her though before she turns into one of them, send her running back to her uncle."

I shake my head a bit. I faintly hear Zeldris gasp at my response. "No. I don't know what it is, but I don't think that... I don't believe that she's coming to our school." I half lie. I don't think she will, but I'm not confident in it. "Odds are that she'll tell her mom to fuck off and get ready to declare independence or something. No sane person would ever willingly be that psycho's daughter." Zeldris bobs his head from side to side, considering my assessment.

"Fair enough. I was looking forward to scaring her off though. Would have been fun." I nod halfheartedly. I don't think I'd really want to make someone like that go through any more hell than she likely already has. I watch Zeldris finish his slice, then stand, stretch out a bit, and finally walk out of the room, calling back to me, "Don't go too wild Meliodas, I'm tired and would like to sleep." I chuckle at his request. I know he's not actually going to bed, he's just stuffing me with cleanup duty. Not that I'm going to argue, I'm the one who let him get away after all. I'll just have to make sure I leave first next time. Or I could threaten to lock him in a room with Melascula and Galand for an hour, He'd then be on clean up duty for at least a month with that threat.

I sigh after a couple minutes of silence with nothing but my own thought. I'm not used to this much thinking about anyone and I haven't even met the poor girl, odds are I won't even meet her. I shake my head, hoping that somehow it'll shake off the thoughts from my head. All it does though is mess up my hair further than it already is. I let out a puff of annoyance, damn genetics. I stand up from the couch and start gathering the leftovers and everything off the table, taking it to the kitchen and beginning the process of storing leftovers and putting dishes to be cleaned. Maybe I'm tormenting myself more than father with this idea now that I think about it a bit more. Next time I should think my scheme through a bit more thoroughly.

I go to the bathroom once clean up duty is done and I hop into the shower. I'm quick to wash up, but after that I end up still standing under the hot water. My thoughts still gravitating to the questions about this girl. In spite of my self convincing that she's not going to show up I keep getting pricks at the back of my mind about it. After about fifteen minutes of just sitting in the shower doing nothing I shake myself awake again. I turn off the water, which at this point didn't even feel hot but just mediocre, and step out. I dry off quickly, put on my baggy shirt and boxers and leave my bathroom into my room. Zeldris moved into his own room years ago. About at the time that he realized that I'm a bit of a dick and the more time he spends with me than he has to the more he'll grow to hate me. It may have been a long game strategy but it won me my own room.

I hop into bed, lying on top of the blankets, staring up at the ceiling. Thoughts swirling around tomorrow. One of two things are going to happen, this Elizabeth girl doesn't even show up, or she does and I just never sees her around because she's been forced into Deus' 'angels' and is thus lost to the no fun side of the school. Either way I shouldn't be losing sleep over it. I close my eyes, relax into my mattress, and let myself drift into sleep.

* * *

"Meliodas!" I begrudgingly open my eyes, head on my desk as I'm called by the teacher. It's study hall, I shouldn't be getting woken up dammit. I glance to the side at Zeldris, who's on his phone texting Gelda. I can tell he is because I see her across the room texting him at the same time. I feel myself gag a bit at the sight. I support my brother in his relationship, I don't support him in being disgustingly sweet and embarrassing me. "Meliodas, your father called for you." I look up at Mr. Hendrickson. Usually he teaches science classes, but right now he's the study hall supervisor.

"Why?" I ask groggily. I feel Zeldris give me a glance but I don't spare him one. Drifting into sleep last night wasn't as easy as it should have been and I'm still feeling the effects now.

"Don't know. Go ask him." I can't argue with that counter really. I stand up and stretch out, walking out without my stuff, considering class just started a couple minutes ago I doubt I'm going to be gone long enough to warrant bringing all my stuff along. I'm annoyed that Zeldris isn't getting dragged out as well, but I learn to live with it quickly on my walk through the halls. The silence and freedom is actually quite nice.

For a solid minute of my long walk I contemplate booking it and running off home to avoid whatever deranged task dad already has for me. I really have no interest in eavesdropping two days in a row, it's not a glamorous job like he thinks it is. I hold out though, avoiding the temptation of ditching school now and push forward. I walk into the principal's office and see the secretary just as engrossed in her work as always, and my father pacing back and forth in the middle of the room. He looks up after a minute of my presence arriving and nods. "Good, you're here."

"Love you too, dad?" I offer, and he doesn't even seem to hear me as he walks to Mrs. Deus' office door and knocks. There's silence for a moment before she walks out and looks at me.

"I told you to bring me Ludociel or Mael!" She hisses at my father. I don't know if she actually expected him to do what she asked in all honesty, she must be reeling from that argument from yesterday if she got that in her head. "I don't want your deadbeat son." Now that's just uncalled for.

"Ludociel and Mael are taking tests right now. I even tried your other two precious pets and they're in the same situation. Live with what you get." He lies through his teeth. I know for a fact that Mael isn't taking a test because he's in study hall with Zeldris and I right now.

"You're a real piece of work aren't you, think you're so clever." Her voice is hushed for whatever reason. I'm starting to fall asleep where I stand, crossing my arms and shifting my weight from one leg to the other to try and keep myself from passing out here and now.

"Just give it up, my son is perfectly capable of handling your little errand until one of your suck-ups is free." I don't know if it's a compliment or just him using me to his advantage. Either way I don't trust it.

I think I faintly hear Mrs. Deus growl at my father and I watch as my father actually leans away a bit from her anger. I snort a bit, and that earns the immediate glare of both parties. I immediately stiffen where I stand and look around the room, acting as though I never saw a thing. "Fine. Give me a minute." She relents, and my father grins in clear victory.

He walks back over to me and pats me on the shoulder. "I'll yell at you about that little snort later, for now, just be yourself." He chuckles and I squint at him. Yet again I'm caught between wondering if he's complimenting or insulting me. Who am I kidding actually, everything out of this man is an insult.

It takes exactly a minute like Mrs. Deus promised, by which time I'm already half asleep while standing up. "Meliodas, meet my daughter. Elizabeth, meet Meliodas." I snap to attention in an instant. Staring wide eyed at the girl in front of me. Her long white hair about half the length of her body. only one eye visible while the other is covered up by her hair for some reason. Her outfit all kinds of prim and proper school girl, almost no skin showing, and I find myself wishing that even just a bit would show if only for a second. Her figure eye catching and... and... I'm blanking out. What's going on here? She's smiling at me, it's such a sincere smile. How can she smile with a woman like this as her mother? How is this girl the daughter of my school's she-devil.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Meliodas!" She says with an all too genuine cheeriness in her voice. I don't understand what's going on anymore. I'm dreaming in study hall aren't I? This is just a dream. Any second now a pig is going to fly through the air cawing like a bird.

I feel a kick to my calf and I wince a bit. Nope, this is reality. I side glance my father who doesn't even look at me. I then look at the girl again, her hands clasped together at her waist. That smile is actually going to kill me because I think my heart is going to snap in half if I look at it too long. "Uhm.. Uh, nice to meet you too." Nice greeting Shakespeare! What was that?!

"She's just transferred here. She's been living with her uncle the past couple years but her other school just wasn't meeting my standards for my beloved daughter." I can feel the venomous lies dripping off the she-serpent in abundance. I don't look at her though, I'm stuck glued to Elizabeth... I'm hardly processing this right now.

'Snap out of it!' I shout at myself in my own head. I shake my head to help drive the message home, earning myself a confused glance from my father and Mrs. Deus, but Elizabeth just giggles. Fuck that's not helping! Why is she so pure? I'm too tired to be dealing with this right now!

"As I was saying," Mrs. Deus continues, "I need someone to help Elizabeth get acquainted with the school. You'll be taking her to study hall, after that, Mael or Ludociel should have no trouble taking over for you in helping her with the ropes of the school. All you need to do is show her where her first class of the day is. Can you handle that?"

'Can you go five minutes without being an insufferable bitch who dampens the shining radiance that I'm basking in right now?' is the swift response in my head. Though it very nearly comes out of my lips instead of what actually comes out, "I can handle it. My current class is study hall too. I can help her with her schedule in that time." I watch as Mrs. Deus visibly grits her teeth at this new information. If only I could hear her grinding her teeth together, it would be true music to my ears.

I hear my father cough, his usual telltale sign of holding in a chuckle. "If it's settled then, I think your daughter will be fine Mrs. Deus. We have some work of our own to do. You waited years to have your daughter back after all, you can wait another day." I can hear the smugness in my father's voice. I don't look at him though, my eyes never leaving Elizabeth.

I watch as Elizabeth turns happily and hugs her mother. "I'll be fine mom! I'll see you later!" I share a look finally with my father, who gives me the same incredulous look, then simultaneously we look at Elizabeth and Mrs. Deus, one clearly happy, the other seeming to dread the extended contact the longer it goes on.

"Yes. Indeed." What a loving mother. "Run along now. Leave Meliodas as soon as he's shown you to study hall." She orders, and Elizabeth pulls away, a frown on her lips and my breath catches at the pout she has. I don't know what Mrs. Deus has done but she has conscripted a weapon of Meliodas murder and it's working.

"Run along you two, I'll talk with your mother Elizabeth about how she should learn manners from you." Elizabeth grins at this as she walks to the door. I think the tension is starting to physically manifest in the air between my father and Mrs. Deus so I waste no time in following Elizabeth out of the office.

I take the lead once we're outside and guide her through the halls. We've not gotten far before I hear something crash back in the office, Elizabeth turns and look back. "What was that?" She asks. Her voice is so soft and soothing, not in the ominous siren way that her mother sounds, but caring and gentle like a... Like a... I don't even know I won't lie.

"Probably just the printer, it can be loud and very rambunctious." I offer as a cover up for the possible homicide that is occurring not far behind our backs. I reach over and press my hand against her back to keep her movi-... Oh dear god I made a mistake. I can feel she's soft, even through her school uniform I can tell she's a soft and gentle form under it... Fuck! 'Pull your hand away! Don't be a damn creeper!' I quickly pull my hand away once we're moving again. I feel myself getting hot and I'm not enjoying it in any way right now. What has this girl done to me, dammit!?

"So, Meliodas." Please don't talk to me. I don't want to fall head over heels in the middle of the hallway. I don't care if nobody will see, I'm dying as it is right now. "Uhm... Sorry I'm not good at small talk." I'm not good with being flustered so much so at least we're on the same page to some degree.

"It's fine. Your mom doesn't seem to want us talking anyways." But I want to keep talking. Dammit I really want to keep talking, but I'm flat-lining mentally right now.

"Oh..." She sounds so rejected god dammit! Why do I care? I shouldn't care! Yet here I am caring like an idiot!

"But I've not really been one to listen to either principal." I offer with a bit of a grin. She gasps at this, looking at me in shock. Too honest, she's a by the book girl, she's going to shut down, fuck.

Then she giggles, and I feel my entire spirit brighten to life at that sound. "Uncle bartra told me to ignore my mother as well. I don't really break rules, I like them, but... Maybe one tiny rule break isn't that bad." She smiles at me. I stare at her in surprise. Looking at her lips curved up in a beautiful smile. 'I've had a fulfilling life' I think as I'm pretty sure I'm about to go to heaven because this girl is making my heart do all kinds of unhealthy exercises in my chest and she's just walking with me to class. I shake myself out of the dreamland I've constructed at the presence of this girl, and look at the door into study hall as though it's the door to safety from what's killing me, though really, it's about to trap me in with it even more.

I open the door and walk in, leading the way for her. "May I sit with you, Meliodas?" She asks softly, as to not intrude on anyone studying I guess, but I don't think she realizes the only person studying is Mael, while everyone else is having social hour.

"Yeah." I strain out, why is my throat dry?! Why am I dying right now in every uncomfortable way? I smile at her despite this. "Just go check in with the teacher, he'll probably want to know the situation." She nods with a small smile. I smile back at her. I then deadlock my gaze on my seat once she turns to go talk with Mr. Hendrickson at his desk. I walk over, and lean into Zeldris' personal space, which causes him to jump a bit, obviously not realizing I even returned. "Go sit with Gelda." I order rather simply. He looks at me as if I'm nuts and I nod over to her. "It's not going to kill you two to talk face to face instead of over the phone. Dad will never know. Now move it." He gets the message by my tone, which had turned extremely dominant and in control, I'm kind of surprised and scared of it myself, but when the seat next to mine is free I sit down, sighing in relief that I'll be able to sit with Elizabeth like she requested.

A minute passes by and she walks over to me, setting her bag by her seat and turning to face me, a confused look on her face. "I thought someone was sitting here a moment ago?" She asks and I tense up a little.

"He's my brother. He actually went to go talk to his girlfriend." I explain as hushed as I can, hoping with all my heart nobody overhears, and that Elizabeth isn't dense and misses the importance of the hushed tone. Would that turn me off from her? I don't know... I'm struggling to think right now. I'm experiencing some extreme shell-shock.

"Gotcha." She says in a whisper, nodding to me before she goes to her bag and opens it up. She pulls out a paper, and I recognize it quickly as a class schedule. "You said you could help me with my schedule, right? You don't mind do you?"

I shake my head, waving my hand dismissively to show that it's no problem at all. "It's my pleasure to help you out, Elizabeth." I slide the paper over to my side of the table and look it over. I glance over at Gelda and Zeldris, and he's too in depth talking with her to notice me at all thankfully.

"I appreciate that. I was kind of worried I'd not be able to find any friends coming here. I hardly had anyone at my last school as is." I look at her and my mind clears. Remembering everything that was discussed yesterday. I shake my head, finally getting the clouds in my mind out. She moved here because her mother is a control freak bitch who took her away from a good parent figure so that she can suffer under her tyrannical rule instead. Yet I can see now already, she's oblivious of that, or denying it. I smile at her, offering as much sympathy as I can possibly muster, she deserves all of it after all.

"Well don't worry about that then. I'll gladly take the role, even if I'm the only one, I'll do everything in my power to make sure you feel like you have a hundred friends." She chuckles at my words, and I feel my heart skip a beat at the sound. I finally look down at the schedule again, scanning through it and my heart stops this time I think. My eyes wide at the list before me.

"Is it that bad?" She asks worriedly. I look over at her and she seems genuinely concerned. I must have made a face or something to give away my shock.

"No. It's actually funny." I chuckle out, sliding it back to her. "You have all the same classes as me it seems." She brightens up at this, and I want to see that brightness every day for as long as I can.

"That's ridiculous! I can't believe such luck!" She says in hushed excitement. I love the sound of her excitement. I don't know how but I think I know what Zeldris is going through with Gelda, except for me I'd argue I'm in a much more dangerous situation. This is the daughter of our father's rival, and I'm here falling for her like a damn puppy.

I smile at her, and It's the first genuine wide smile that I've had in such a long time it feels foreign to me. "I'd say my father was right to call me for this job. You won't even need a second tour guide." I chuckle and she does so too. Then it strikes me square in the head. 'Did dad set up her schedule to mirror mine? Is this part of one of his damn schemes or something?' I feel myself tense with worry at that prospect. Elizabeth seems to notice as she rests a hand on my shoulder and I wish that she didn't because it only makes me more tense for different reasons entirely.

"What's wrong?" She asks softly, and I want to tell her every woe I've ever experienced because her voice just makes me want to open up like a book for her to read. Agh! Quit it already! You're melting you damn love-struck idiot! You've never even been interested in a girl before! Why now?!

I look into her eye, and I smile at her playfully. "I'm fine, just looking forward to getting to know you better." I watch her face redden a bit and she pulls away a bit, I chuckle. She's nothing like her mother. She's pure. She's genuine. She's beautiful. And I'm going to make her mine.


	2. Chapter 2: First Encounter

**Thank you again to JacklynnFrost for betaing this chapter! Also thank you to all those reading this fic and reviewing!**

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Chapter 2: First Encounter

"Meliodas?" I look over at Elizabeth. She's looking at me with a faint blush on her face. I smile at the sight of it. She brushes her hair back so that I can see her other eye, completing the pair of beautiful crystal orbs. She looks away bashfully, and I find myself leaning over to her. I place a hand on her cheek, not really registering that I don't actually feel her soft skin. I turn her head to face me and she leans into my hand.

"What is it, Elizabeth?" I ask curiously. My head tilting with a playful grin on my lips. She gets more red at this and I chuckle at her sweet innocence. She then smiles at me and I feel my heart skip a beat at the sight of her radiant smile.

"I was just... Wondering if you would like to meet up... After school?" She asks and I feel my chest tighten. I can't believe what I'm hearing. It sounds distant though, like I'm hearing it from miles away, though that doesn't change my glee at hearing her ask to see me after school. I never imagined that she'd feel the same way about me as I'm feeling for her.

"Of course, Elizabeth. I'd love to." I smirk as her smile grows wider. I slide my hand to the back of her head gently, and I don't feel her hair in my hand as I pull her closer to me. There's a faint ringing in my ear, but nothing can ruin this moment. My free hand slides to her waist, lacking any feeling of her clothes or her soft skin on my fingers despite this.

When her lips are an inch from mine I hear her voice. "Meliodas?" Huh? Her lips didn't move? "Meliodas!"

I jolt in my seat. Looking around in a panic as I snap back to reality. Fuck, was I just daydreaming? I look to my left and up at Elizabeth, who's standing next to me, looking down at me worriedly. "Are you okay? The bell rang and you weren't moving." I wince a bit at hearing how far gone I was. That's a pride bruiser if I've ever had one. Though I certainly enjoyed the dream while it lasted.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." I nod in reassurance to her, and she smiles, it's the same as in my dream but this one is so much better because of how real it is. "We have time, it's like, six minute down time between classes." She gasps at that information and I quirk an eyebrow at her confusion.

"Six minutes? Why so long?" I stare at her for a moment. I never thought that someone would think six minutes is a long time. What kind of rushes did her schools put her through?

I pack up my notebook, which was empty and unstudied from since I don't care about study hall, nobody does. "How long did you have between classes back at your old school?" I ask as I stand with my pack, slinging its straps over my arms. It's pretty light considering I only have one notebook and textbooks are kept in the classes unless taken out by a student, something I've not done in all my three years of being here.

She blushes, and I can say with certainty that my daydream pales in comparison to her actual blush. She's too sweet for my own good. "We were given two minutes to get between classes. It was a smaller school though." I blink at this information. If it were two minutes between first and second bell here then everyone would be late to classes. Not because they'd be busy slacking off in the halls, but because even at a full sprint you'd be too late for class. Traffic jams are common in the school halls without people being in a rush, if we were only given two minutes to navigate then classes would be starting with an empty room half the time.

"Not here. Here we like to not rush our students into the ground." She giggles, small and soft, and I want to hear it more, need to hear it as much as I can. "You'll find that the easiest way to get to class without running into traffic is to wait a couple minutes for the halls to die down in activity before going."

I hop up and sit down on the desk, looking at Elizabeth, who tenses a bit when I mention waiting a few minutes before heading out. "Oh. Are you... Sure that we won't be late though?" I grin at her worry. I feel a pair of eyes on the back of my head though, and before I comfort her I glance over my shoulder, seeing Zeldris standing by the door with his arms crossed, watching me carefully. I give him a small grin, which he just shakes his head at before I look at Elizabeth. Her eyes are off to the side, one arm down at her side while the other rubs her bicep nervously.

"You can trust me. I've been here three years now after all, I know how things work." I smile at her and she looks at me again. Her tense form dropping into a relaxed posture with my words. She gives me a smile, and I cherish every second of its presence. She then reaches up the hand that was at her side, not losing her grip on her bicep with the other, and I assume she's moving to push the hair in front of her eye back. Instead I watch as she combs it down, making sure that it stays in the way. I squint at this for an instant, though I shake it off quickly, I don't want her to think I'm judging her style. She's beautiful no matter how I look at her anyways.

Elizabeth is silent. Looking around the room, seeming to be trying to occupy herself. I guess she's not used to idling around. I should talk to her but I don't know what about. 'So what's it feel like to be living with your neglectful control freak mother again?' I'm sure that would go over well, and certainly not be a question with an obvious answer. Actually maybe it isn't. She did hug her mother earlier in spite of her being a bitch. Does she not understand what her mother did to her? Or does she not care? "Meliodas?" I jolt again. Every time she says my name I feel like my heart takes a sucker punch directly to it. I look at her in spite of this and quirk an eyebrow. "My mother seems to want me to stay away from you." She's a control freak bitch, if she could have her way you'd only ever socialize with her precious angels, not even her, just her angels. "Is there any particular reason for that?"

Even if there was I don't think I'd want to tell her. I don't want to scare her off or give her any reason to avoid me. I'd hate that beyond imagining. I just give her a shrug, accompanying it with a smirk as I say, "No clue. She hates having to run the school with my father though, so that might be why. Hating me for who my father is." It's a fair assessment honestly. Though I think she hates anyone who doesn't kiss up to her or her precious goody two shoes angels. Which means anyone from my group of friends is definitely on her shit list.

"Ah. I see..." She looks down and my heart drops at the sight like her gaze. I watch her shake it off quickly and smile at me again. My heart leaps back up to where it was. I think my heart is actually on a roller-coaster right now with how much Elizabeth is affecting me.

I look at the clock begrudgingly and then back at her. "We should get going now. Don't want to be late on your first day." She gives a firm nod, smiling all the while. She's stoic in spite of whatever it is that's bothered her. She's stronger than she looks, and feels. I shouldn't be thinking about how she feels. She's soft though, and it's such a nice fee- 'Stop that!' I think to myself. Cutting off that thought before it goes way over the line. I sigh a bit, getting tired of having to reign in a leash around my own neck. It is the least comfortable endeavor I've ever had.

Out of the corner of my eye I watch Mael getting ready to head out himself. I tense, worrying somehow he might recognize Elizabeth and have orders from Mrs. Deus to take her away from me. I take Elizabeth's hand without thinking and hurry along out the door. I ignore the confusion that Zeldris looks at me with as I practically fly past him with Elizabeth in tow. She lets out a little yelp when I pull her along but she quickly finds pace with me. It's such a cute yelp, like a kitten demanding attention.

"Meliodas!" Elizabeth pleads once we're down the hall. I slow a bit at her calling my name. I think I should keep on doing that on purpose if only to hear her yelps and calling my name some more. I shake the thought off though as that's likely another thing that would scare her away. "Why the sudden rush?" She asks, breathing heavily from the sudden dash. "Weren't you the one who wanted to wait and take your time?" She exhales harshly as she catches her breath finally.

"Sorry." I admit. I reach one hand up to rub the back of my head. I probably shouldn't have done that in hindsight. "Didn't mean to do that. I'm just... I dunno." I admit, I really don't know. I don't have an excuse to give and I'd rather not say I was keeping her away from Mael to keep her to myself. Then I'd sound just as bad as her mother. Even though that is... Kinda what I'm doing... But that's beside the point! I'm not doing it to keep her sheltered in some bubble! I want her to be free of her mother's tyrant attitude and show her what fun is. I'm sure her uncle Bartra wanted the same thing for her, but her mother wasn't having it.

Then I hear her giggle. I look at her in surprise, and feel my lips spread into a smile on their own. She shakes her head in amusement, "You're a real character aren't you, Meliodas?" I grin at her. In any other circumstance I'd be wondering if that sentence should be taken as a compliment or an insult. But with Elizabeth, this sincere and pure girl, I don't even have to consider the idea of it being an insult. Nothing out of this girl could be meant in a harmful way.

"If I'm a character I really hope I'm the protagonist in your eyes." I offer with a wry grin. I watch her tense up at the comment, feel it too. I smirk as I let out a small chuckle at her reaction. Wait, how'd I feel her tensing up? I look down to see that I'm still holding her hand, and she's still holding mine. I look up quickly and I see she hasn't noticed, her head turned to look away in embarrassment at my comment. Now I'm the one who feels red in the face and tense. I don't want to let go though, not because her hand is soft to the touch and delicate like a flower... Okay, that's part of the reason, but I don't want to send her any kind of message that I'm not interested in her. Because dammit I'm very interested in her and I'm not going to try beating around that bush because I worry if I do she'll get the wrong message. I've gotta be careful not to overdo it though. Why am I thinking so much on this? I'm putting more thought into this than either of our principals put into our education!

"Where's our next class then?" Elizabeth asks, seeming to have relaxed after a moment of processing what I said. I nod quickly, turning and walking at a slower pace. She doesn't let go of my hand, so I don't let go of hers. I'm glad that the halls are still crowded around where we're going, otherwise I'd not be able to make the excuse of not losing her if someone tried to ask me why I'm holding her hand. It takes a lot of waiting around in jams and maneuvering around people but eventually we get to History without much trouble, and a minute to spare. "I'll go greet the teacher." she says and I nod, hating how it feels to lose my grip on her hand, watching her walk up to Mr. Helbram at his desk. I go over to my table and sit down. I place my bag on the seat next to me, saving it for Elizabeth. Not that anyone ever sits with me on purpose.

People flood in at the last second, nearly filling up the room. In the midst of the torrent of people I watch Elizabeth make her way towards me, maneuvering around people. I move my bag off the seat next to mine and smile as she takes the seat. She smiles back at me. "I don't know if I said it already, but thank you so much for helping me! I'd probably wind up lost without your help."

I wave my hand, dismissing the praise. "Come on, you're giving me more credit than I deserve. I'm just showing you to our classes, it's no big deal." As much as I downplay the praise, I love every bit of it. "A word of warning by the way, Mr. Helbram is very excitable when it comes to different cultures so tread carefully."

Elizabeth lets out a small giggle, and I'm satisfied in my continued success at hearing that sweet noise. I watch her face, how her cheeks rise when she smiles, her one visible eye squeezes shut, the curve of her smooth lips. Fuck, I'm doing it again! I turn away from her, desperately wanting to find something else to focus on, but when I do I wish that I never looked away to begin with. At a table nearer the front than us, I spot Sariel and Tarmiel sitting together. Why the hell am I in so many classes with these teacher's pets? Is this Fate just completely blocking me from being safely with Elizabeth or something? I don't know how I hadn't noticed them in my classes earlier, though I don't exactly care for or pay attention to them even when I know they're around. Though with Elizabeth now, I'm going to constantly worry about them influencing her the way her mother wants them to.

Tarmiel is a big guy, meanwhile Sariel is short and you could mistake him for a kid if you look too quickly. In all honesty it reminds me of Drole and Glox, one really tall strong guy and then a short stuff, not brothers but joined at the hip like conjoined twins.

"Who are they?" Elizabeth whispers the question to me, leaning into my ear, and I feel her breath cascade along my skin and I think I'm about to faint from the feeling. I quickly snap out of it, not wanting to ignore her question.

I look at her, and I can tell she's referring to the two I was staring at. I wave my hand, acting as though it's nothing. "Just a couple of teacher's pets. Tarmiel, the tall one, and Sariel, the other one." Elizabeth looks worried for a moment and I don't know what I could have said to make her look downcast.

"Is being a teacher's pet bad?" Her voice is as soft as her skin and I instantly regret my choice of words. I should have known that she's going to be like them on that front.

I shake my head heatedly, trying to atone for my wording, we're still whispering, in spite of the fact that class hasn't started just yet. "No, it's fine to be a teacher's pet, it's just... There's some teacher's pets that are... Well not the kind of people you like to hang out with." I smile at her, then it changes into a smirk as I spark an idea. I lean into her ear like she did with me, and make sure that when I speak again that my breath covers her skin, a small return of the favor she unconsciously did for me. "The difference for you is I want to be with you." I pull away, watching her tense up, blush, and look away all in one moment. I grin, basking in the success.

I'm fully aware of how I worded it, and I hope that she understands that. I'm hopeful that she catches my meaning, if she doesn't I know I'm going to visibly deflate in my skin. When she turns to look at me, the smile wide and blush faint, but still an adorable shade of pink, I feel my hope rise. "I enjoy being with you too!" I feel like a balloon that after being blown up just got let go to fly around the room as all its air leaves it. She's a bit more oblivious than I bargained for. But I find myself drawn to it, it's a sweet and tantalizing innocence. I want to be the one who shows her the fun that can be had in life, something that her mother definitely isn't going to permit if she has her way.

I open my mouth to speak, "Alright class." I'm confused for a moment because I didn't mean to say that, and I don't recognize my own voice, until I snap into focus and remember where we are. Mr. Helbram is standing, and has begun class. I feel myself somehow deflate further than I already did. I'm just not catching a break.

Not much is learned, for one because it's the second week of classes, and as such it's all mostly review for a review test. The same goes for the next couple classes, where I catch mixed sightings of Mrs. Deus' precious angels, but not once do I see Ludociel. At least that's one less to worry about in classes. I don't see a single person from my group though. Zeldris is the only one that pops into my classes, at least until lunch rolls around. In all honesty, I don't want Elizabeth to meet them. More than I don't want her to meet her mother's playthings.

I take Elizabeth's hand and guide her away from the cafeteria, pulling her off the path that she had already been going, causing her to stumble after me a bit with another squeak like last time. I feel my nerves spike at that sound and I'm glad I got to hear it again. The lunch room is the more commonly used area for eating, but during lunch students are allowed to go where they want as long as it's on campus, so some people take their lunches to places like the staircases or unused corners of the school. Lucky for me I know of an unused area that nobody makes use of.

"Meliodas?" Elizabeth asks, recovering quickly and falling in pace with me. "Where are we going? Isn't the lunch room the other way?" I nod, confirming that the lunch room is indeed the other way.

"I don't like eating there." Not a complete lie, "It's too noisy and crowded for my liking. I'd much rather be able to be with you in peace and quiet." I look over my shoulder at her and she's blushing again. I have to say I particularly enjoy her face when it's red. Her shades of red are just perfectly innocent and pure.

After some minutes of walking to the opposite side of the school from the cafeteria, we come to a set of stairs that leads up to the gym. I turn and face her as I take a seat, setting my bag down next to me as I lean back against the steps. Throwing one leg over the other and resting my head back against the stairs, my hands on the back of my neck as I look up at a timid Elizabeth. "Here?" She asks cautiously, as though if she asks more worriedly then it will somehow become a proper table.

I nod. "It's not bad. I've had to eat in messier places, and really dirty, it may be stairs but these stairs hardly ever get used. To get to gym you go to the changing room then up a set of stairs around the back, up from the basement." She seems mortified at this, considering that gym class is next I don't blame her for her fear. "It's fine. You trust me don't you?" I give her a winning smile, and I watch her mortification turn to an embarrassed blush. After a moment she nods and sits next to me, on the other side of my bag and I instantly regret my choice of placement.

I move the bag down to be between my legs instead and open it up. After a moment of digging around I freeze. Fuck. I was so tired this morning that I forgot to pack my lunch. Or maybe I did pack it and just forgot to put it in my bag? It's irrelevant what happened because regardless of that I'm looking forward to starving until I get home. "You okay?" Elizabeth asks, sliding over and looking into my bag, which I close quickly so she doesn't see the lack of anything inside of it. I can tell by the bulk of her backpack that she definitely has more than twice my luggage and I don't want her to think I'm a slacker.

"I'm fine. Just forgot my lunch at home is all." I give her a faint grin. "I'll be fine. Starvation takes at least a week to set in."

She just shakes her head and I raise an eyebrow at the action. She pulls out two food containers, both containing a different sandwich that she holds out to me. "Take your pick."

I'm frozen for a second. I'm not even looking at the offering, just at her. Her one visible eye staring at me with worry. Why is she worried about me? I'm not worth worrying about over something as simple as a forgotten lunch. "You don't have to give up your lunch, it's no big-"

"It is no big deal." She cuts me off and I feel my eyes widening in surprise. "I always prepare two lunches anyway. I like to have choices depending on how my day is going." She presses the offerings at me again. "Go ahead. We have gym next, you shouldn't work out on an empty stomach." I look at her still, not taking my eyes off her. Unlike Mrs. Deus' 'angels,' Elizabeth is an actual angel. I can see it in her eye, she's a caring, compassionate soul. Getting so worried about someone like me over something as simple as a forgotten lunch is downright inhuman generosity.

"You're too kind." Is all I can manage to tell her as I look down at the offered choices, one is PB&J, the other is ham. I slowly reach out and take the PB&J from her. I look up at her and she's smiling happily.

"You were kind to me first." Is all she says as she takes the leftover sandwich and opens the container. I'm stunned into silence at her comment. I hadn't considered my actions kind... They aren't. I'm trying to get with her after all, how is kindness with an ulterior motive kind? I shake it off, set with my understanding that she just doesn't understand why I'm being so kind to her. She deserves genuine kindness. My kindness has the motive of making her mine, hers is genuine and pure.

I'm silent now. Eating her food that she gave me. It makes me feel warm. Not because it tastes extraordinary, it really doesn't. But knowing that it was given to me by her kindness, her caring about me, it makes it one of the best things I've ever eaten. 'Maybe I shouldn't get with her.' crosses into my mind. The thought comes out of the blue and I tense at it, thankfully she doesn't notice. 'She's too good for you,' plays in my head and I look away from her. The thoughts circle around a couple times, but I shake them out. If not me then who? Ludociel? Mael? People that will inhibit her goodness. Someone her mother approves of will be just as much of a control freak as that bitch. Elizabeth doesn't deserve to be used like a pawn in some game of socialite chess.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and I whirl to look at Elizabeth. She's blushing again and I'm glad she got my attention just so I could see more of her red face. "Uhm..." She pauses for a second. 'Please ask me out,' echoes in the back of my head and I mentally slap myself for that one. 'Just because she's nervous doesn't mean that she likes you.' "What happens if you don't have a change of clothes for gym?" She doesn't have a change of clothes? I guess it makes sense, she probably didn't anticipate having gym when she packed up. I bet she only got her schedule when she got here this morning, and considering Mrs. Deus picked her up this morning on top of that, she likely doesn't have access to the rest of her stuff.

"When you don't have a change of clothes you are sat on the bleachers and watch everyone else exercise. It's hardly a punishment, you just don't get credit for that day." She tenses at the mention of not getting credit. "It hardly matters if you miss one day. A lot of people slack off and purposefully 'forget' their clothes a lot just to get out of having to exercise." Elizabeth doesn't relax at my explanation though.

"That seems pretty unfair, not to mention easy to abuse." Elizabeth looks at me, trying to make sure that I'm being truthful I guess. I found it pretty stupid too when I first learned about it.

"Coach Twigo is many things. Fair and smart are the two things he's farthest from." I explain and she giggles at my explanation. I watch her body relax again and I let out a sigh of relief that she's not worrying about it, it really isn't something to get worked up over, you could miss out on ten classes and still be able to get an A in the class. I should know, I've done it.

We eat in relative silence for the rest of lunch, Elizabeth isn't much of a talker, and I'm not either, so we don't really get much conversation in. She does ask me my thoughts on her mother, which I just shrug off as indifference. Which would be the truth like a week ago, but now, I hate her for being a terrible mother to Elizabeth. I'd tell her this, but from what I can tell she doesn't see it quite the same. I'd be willing to bet that her uncle Bartra avoided telling her the exact truth as well.

I get up and grab my bag a couple minutes before the bell rings, Elizabeth does the same. "We can beat the traffic jam if we leave now. The locker rooms are just downstairs." She nods in understanding. I smile at her for a moment, and she catches it, looking away with a creeping smile on her lips and a small blush. I want to turn her head and press my lips to hers in that moment, and it's a very long moment for me. I want a vast number of things and I really want to act on them while we're still alone but I snap myself back to reality, turn to lead the way, but also so that I'm not looking at her when my own face turns red. I actually fucking hate this feeling. I'm usually so confident and capable but I've been made into mush by this one girl in only a couple hours. What makes it worse though: I actually like being mush for her. It's nice, relaxing, and she hardly even knows me, yet is treating me like I'm her best friend, but I don't want to be her best friend, I want to be her boyfriend. Two very different things that are very mutually exclusive.

I show her down to the locker rooms, pointing out the girl's lockers before explaining: "Since you don't have a change of clothes you don't really need to go in there. You can just wait out here in the hall for Mr. Twigo and Mrs. Matrona, Twigo's assistant for gym since he can't exactly go inside the girl's locker room, to take the class up into the gym." Elizabeth nods, and when the bell rings I stay standing beside her.

She looks at me in slight confusion as we stand in the hall together, leaning back against the wall. "Aren't you going to get changed?" Her eyebrows are pinched together. She looks so cute when she's confused.

I shake my head in response. "Since you're out of action, I'm out of action. I'm not leaving you sit off on your own." She blushes a deep red and looks away from me. Every time she does that I just want to pull her into me and hold her gaze so that she can't look away, I don't know why she tries to hide her blush from me, I really wish that she wouldn't. Every fiber of my being just wants to touch her, hold her, look at her, k- 'Cut it out!' I smack myself back again, not physically because I'm pretty sure I'd get a confused look if I did that. The mental slap is enough for now.

We watch as people go into the lockers. minutes pass without anyone coming out. Then when the bell rings people start making their way out of the locker rooms, talking among themselves. "Oi! Meliodas!" My heart stops dead in its tracks. I forgot completely. I turn to watch as Galand walks out of the locker room. The large man makes his way over to me, and I stand from the wall, trying to make sure that I'm between him and Elizabeth. Thankfully nobody pays attention to him and his overly loud nature. "What happened to you? We all missed you dearly at lunch." He chuckles to himself, and I grit my teeth, feeling Elizabeth's confusion behind me.

"I was helping out a friend. She just changed to here." I nod back to Elizabeth, crossing my arms as I glare at Galand. He stands in front of me, towering over me, he's big, muscly, and intimidating. I've never been intimidated though, I know I can beat him, I've shown that I can as well.

"Ohh? And who's your girlfriend?" Galand teases and I tense up at his question. He takes advantage of this and goes around me, I spin around to look at him kneeling down to look at Elizabeth, I grit my teeth, wanting to punch Galand square in the jaw, but I also don't want to make a scene. "May I ask your name dear?" He asks in an all too friendly voice.

"Elizabeth." She answers normally. She glances at me though, curiosity on on her face, and I don't have a clue as to why she's giving me that look.

"A lovely name, I must say. Though I can't say the same for your hair." I glare at Galand. He can't say such a thing. Her hair, just like the rest of her, is flawless. "You should chop off this dangly bit, it's making you half blind." He swipes his hand up and flicks his wrist, tossing her hair over her eye up a bit, and she winces away. For the flash of a sight I see under the hair, her eye is squeezed tightly shut. I don't see any markings, injuries or anything like that, which only deepens my confusion about why she wears it like that. But that's not at the front of my mind right now. I walk up to the side of Galand and deliver a swift punch into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. He steps back a bit, holding his side.

I look him in the eyes, a deathly seriousness in them that I know he'll understand. "Don't touch her, and don't mention her or any of this to the others. Got it?" Galand lets out a growl at my command.

"You want me to lie to them about not seeing you with some girl? I am Galand the-"

"You'll be Galand the traumatized if you speak a word of it. Don't need to lie, just don't talk about it. That's not lying, it's keeping quiet." I keep my glare on him, long and hard. He keeps his mouth shut at that and just nods in confirmation. I step away, and watch him walk off on his own. I look around, thankful that everyone's too in their own world to notice or even care about what just transpired.

I turn to look at Elizabeth, who's facing her back to me, I see her hands working at her hair, making sure that it stays in place where it was before. I open my mouth to ask her what's wrong, but she cuts me off, asking "Did you see?"

I freeze up in confusion. Was there something I wasn't supposed to see? I didn't see anything wrong with her eye from the flash of it that I saw. I slowly reach up and grab her by the shoulder, gently turning her to face me again. She's looking away, not meeting my gaze. I don't know what it is, but clearly she's self conscious about something with her eye. I could have gathered that from when she messed with her hair earlier, but now I'm confident in it. I want to ask her what's wrong, to comfort her, but that's not what she asked for. "I didn't see anything. too busy teaching him to not touch you." I answer with a playful grin. "I'm the only one allowed to put my hands on you."

She lets out a small chuckle, still not meeting my gaze, her face more red than any of the other times she's blushed. I look down and I see her hands are shaking a bit at her sides. I slide my hand down her shoulder and across her arm, I feel her tensing up as I do this and I take her hand, holding it steady. This draws her gaze to me and I give her a wide smile. She relaxes after a moment of looking at me, and I think she's about to say something, only for us to be interrupted by Mr. Twigo calling out at the end of the hall, "Get a move on! It's time for you fragile little runts to get in shape!" I wince at the sound of his voice. It's far from what I was hoping to hear at that moment in time.

Elizabeth seems to see this and giggles at my suffering. She takes my hand in hers and walks me over to follow everyone else going up to the gym. I relish the contact with her, enjoying her leading the way this time. Everyone crowds up the stairs and into the large gymnasium. Off to the side is the bleachers lining the wall. Already there are a couple people sitting scattered all over it. Some are on their phones, others are talking with friends. I always find it kind of pathetic to abuse the terrible way Twigo set up gym class and it's changing rules but I understand, to an extent, the appeal of abusing the rule. I can hardly talk considering I'm abusing it right now to stay with Elizabeth.

Speaking of, I feel her practically rip my arm out of its socket as she pulls me along to sit on the bleachers. I hope that's not how I was pulling her along earlier, it's far from comfortable, and with her fragile form I worry I would rip it out if I tug on it too hard. Something to keep in mind for any future pulls. She sits down on the lowest level and pulls me to sit down with her, much more gently this time, thankfully.

We watch as the class gathers up and starts doing laps around the gym. I sit close to Elizabeth, not leaving much, if any, space between us. I want to make up for all that space between us in lunch after all. She doesn't seem to mind though, I contemplate wrapping my arm around her side to test the ground a bit, but quickly shoot down the idea. 'Maybe later.' We watch as people do laps for a few minutes, then I feel Elizabeth tap my shoulder. I look at her and she smiles when she gets my attention. "I appreciate what you did, but there was no need to punch him. I'm used to it really." I narrow my eyes in concern. She doesn't seem to care though, still smiling sweetly, and I can't keep my eyes narrowed for long.

"I kind of did though, you may be used to it, but you shouldn't be, and you certainly shouldn't let people pester you like that. Your hair is beautiful no matter how you wear it." At this she turns a deep shade of red, and I smirk. I decide to go a step further with that ground gained, "You're beautiful." With that she clearly can't handle much more and looks away bashfully. She's too innocent for my heart to handle, it's such honest shyness I can't do anything but be drawn into it.

She seems to decide to focus on the students participating in gym class to focus her mind on something else. I grin and lean back, resting against the next seat up. I watch as Galand and about half of the rest of the class head back downstairs. Elizabeth turns to me and points to them with her thumb. "Where are they going?"

"They're not in general gym class like we are, they're in weightlifting, so they're only here for the first half of the class before going down to the weights room. I was in it last year." She seems surprised at this and I grin, I may be short but I'm definitely more in shape than most people in the school. "You'll see the proof at some point, I guarantee." I have a smirk on my lips and she gets that playful comment instantly, her body tensing up and her gaze shooting off to the side, trying not to look at me. I chuckle at the sight. I don't know the last time I felt this nice honestly. I enjoy my time with my brother and my friends, but this is beyond all of that. I feel happier with Elizabeth in just these few hours in school than I have in all my time before she came along. I can't imagine what's so different about her, I've met beautiful people before, she's just more beautiful. I've met sweet and kind people, she's just better. I've known innocent and pure souls, but her's is truly flawless.

"Meliodas, do you have time after school to meet in private?" My heart stops at Elizabeth's question. It snaps me out of my fantasizing immediately. Fuck I wasn't ready for that. She's caught me off guard when I was the one who was supposed to be catching her off guard! 'She feels the same way about me!' 'She wants to ask me out!' 'Take this opportunity to ask her out!' All kinds of thoughts along those lines swim around in my head and I feel overwhelmed for a moment.

"I... Uhm... Yeah. My father doesn't leave until about an hour after school ends... So I have plenty of time for you." I wish I could have more time though. I want to spend more time with her, just us, alone. Maybe in that hour I can grow a pair and ask her out before she thinks that I'm not interested. I'll be well and truly screwed over if I get friend-zoned by her. I think I'll have an easier time just curling up and dying like my brother wishes I would than handling being stuck as her friend.

Elizabeth smiles at my answer. I don't feel I deserve that smile though as I definitely didn't sound confident when I gave her my answer. "My mother will be leaving an hour after as well. So I'm glad that I'll have someone to be with. I'd rather not have to sit around doing nothing while I wait for her." I nod, I certainly understand the feeling. If it weren't for Zeldris I'd be sitting around anxiously doing nothing for an hour as well. Though now I'm going to be ditching him to be with Elizabeth. He'll understand, he's ditched me more than enough times to be with Gelda after school. That hour is the only time outside of school that he really gets to be with her. I worry that that fate will likely be the case for Elizabeth and I if things work out the way that I hope they will.

At the mention of her mother though a spring of curiosity wells up in me, and without thinking I ask her, "You asked me earlier what I think of your mother, what exactly do you think of her?" I immediately regret it as the words leave my mouth. Elizabeth's eyes fall and her posture slacks. I shouldn't have asked that. That was really dumb of me. What was I expecting? 'Oh yeah I love seeing her despite the years of neglect and abandonment, but now she's making an effort to see me again and I'm so happy to see her!' I'll eat my shorts if that's her answer.

"I'm happy to see her... Despite what uncle Bartra said about her, I can't help but think that she must want to see me again with how she's taking me back into her life. She can't be that bad if she wants to see me again." ...I'm not eating my shorts because she didn't say exactly what I thought. She's so damn oblivious to her mother's actual personality. I want to explain to her what her mother really is, how manipulative she is, and how she's a total control freak psycho bitch. But I can't, she'd be devastated, and I doubt that she would believe me. She's going to figure it out on her own sooner or later... She has to figure it out on her own, when she does though, I'll be there for her. No matter what. "What about your father Meliodas? What do you think of him?"

I tense at that question. I don't like discussing him any time that I don't have to. He's not neglectful, but the way that he is I wouldn't mind a bit of neglect sprinkled in once in a while. "He's... Not great... Far from it actually. He uses Zeldris and I all the time, we're more like tools to him than sons." Elizabeth gasps at that, but I just shrug. It's something we both got used to. "He's neglectful, but not like your mother, he's there with us but never for us, we're the ones there for him. Be it to do work for him or-"

I feel fingers wrap around my hands and Elizabeth pulls both my hands up to be between us. It's so sudden and unexpected I tense up wildly, my heart skipping several beats, and I feel my face turning into a furnace. "Meliodas, if you ever need anything. Just tell me. I won't hesitate to be there for you." 'I need you.' Is the swift response my mind comes up with when I look into her eye. She has a determined look on her face, and I can see her blush in spite of it.

"Only if you promise to tell me when you need anything too, Elizabeth. I'm here for you." Elizabeth's face turns a deeper red, but she nods. I feel my lips curving up into a smile, and it takes all the power in my body to keep from kissing her. For one thing, word will definitely reach my father if I kiss his arch-enemy's daughter in broad daylight. Secondly, I still don't know if she's interested in me, and I don't want to scare her off from me, I would never want that. Elizabeth gives another smile before slowly letting go of my hands, and I immediately miss the touch. Her soft hands in my rough ones. It's not something I've felt much of in my life, it's foreign, yet ultimately better than anything I've experienced. I want to experience more, like the feel of her skin, feeling up her arm, along her thi- 'Stop!' I shake my head, trying to work out the thoughts. Those thoughts can wait until I've gotten her to be mine. Right now she's not, though I certainly plan to stake my claim on her. Hopefully when we meet after school.

I look at her again and she is looking at me with confusion, which is fair, I did physically shake my head without any context. "Do you have someplace to go in mind?" She asks with a tilt of her head. "I know I'm the one who asked to meet you after school but I don't exactly know any private places." Private? That just solidifies my thoughts, she's interested, and wants to be alone with me. Right? I'm getting ahead of myself. She could just want a quiet place to hang out. But what if she wants to be 'alone' with me? I'll handle it when I get there, I need to stop thinking like this.

"I have a place in mind. We'll head there after our last class." I give her a grin, and she nods, trusting me with the planning of where to go. I smirk to myself, knowing the perfect place for being alone after school.

* * *

"Come on! We're almost there Elizabeth!" I smile back at her as I hold her hand. I'm leading her along a path, going up a hill to the place I had thought of for our after school meeting point. Nobody comes here anymore, so it will be perfect. I look back at Elizabeth, she's actually doing well at keeping up despite the incline. The hill is technically school property, but it's never used. It was used at one point, but then students and staff stopped bothering with it.

"Where are we going exactly?" Elizabeth questions and I grin back at her.

"You'll see in a minute. It's a great view." I've come here a couple times before, mainly on days where Zeldris ditched me to be on my own while he went off with Gelda for the hour of downtime after school. He'll understand me ditching him, or he will when I explain... If I explain. He's my brother, I should be able to trust him with my love life, but I doubt that he'll approve of me being with Mrs. Deus' daughter, not nearly as much as dad will though.

I shake those thoughts, refocusing on the task at hand. Getting alone time with Elizabeth. That is my one directive right now. I lead her up a bit further, and after another minute of walking we come up to a large amount of benches overlooking the view of the hill. "Oh." Elizabeth marvels at it for a moment. I smile wide as I watch her reaction to the view. It's not amazing, there are better views in the world sure. But it's a long and natural view within reach of home. The ability to have a beautiful view of your home area is what makes it such a relaxing place for me, and now, for Elizabeth too. She walks over to a bench right at the front of the scene. She doesn't sit down just yet, standing to take in the view.

I walk over to her, rejoining her as I watch her. The sparkle in her eye. The amazement in her breaths. I'm not sure how she's so amazed by the view, perhaps a topic to talk about. "Beautiful." Comes out of my lips unconsciously, voicing my thoughts of her without knowing it, but Elizabeth notices, and blushes, looking at me. I immediately feel my own face heat up a bit, but I don't look away. I want her to know what I think. If I can't be forward here I'm never going to be able to be forward with her.

I'm the first to take a seat. Elizabeth follows right after I do, sitting next to me, close to me, similar to back on the bleachers, but this time she's the one getting closer. 'She's interested, just ask her, it's not that hard!' The voice in my head rings out and I have to shove it down. I can't rush into that... I don't think I can at least. I've never had a girlfriend dammit! I don't know how this works! "I wanted to meet with you in private to tell you something..." I freeze up, thoughts going blank. Fuck, she's beating me to the punch isn't she? "Well... A couple things maybe."

"Anything Elizabeth, I'm here for you, like I said." I'm shocked that I don't stutter any of that because I certainly feel jittery right now. Excitement? Anxiety? Possible heart attack? I don't know why my body is reacting the way it is but I feel like I'm dying in a number of ways right now, and she hasn't even spoken what she wants to say yet. I'm such a fucking push-over for her but I don't care.

"I just... Wanted to get this off my chest with you... Like I said I might be getting a couple things off... We'll see." She's so unsure. I know how it feels. I don't know how to reassure her though. I've never been in this situation before. Most emotional things I've dealt with in the past have been through fists and anger, never through a heart to heart.

I place a hand on her shoulder and turn her to face me. Her one eye is avoiding looking at mine, clearly bothered, but I can tell that it's not because of me right now. "If you're struggling... I could get something off my chest first? It might help you with what you want to get out." I'm simultaneously anxious, hopeful, in love, panicked and terrified all at once and I don't know how I haven't burst like a balloon already. Maybe I already have and this is just the afterlife, maybe I already blew up this morning when I first met her. That would explain how she's so angelic and perfect the way she is.

"No." She resolves. She hardens and looks at me, it actually takes me a bit off guard how serious her will has come in such an instantaneous way. Though without missing a beat she softens again, letting out a shaky breath. Then she reaches up a hand, taking her hair covering her right eye and I tense, 'oh, this.' swims through my head for an instant but I smack myself mentally for that thought. 'She's self-conscious about something there, the fact she's showing you is immense progress!' Once she moves her hair back, pushing it behind her ear I look at the eye. The iris is red, and a bit spiky at the ends. I try to recall what it's called for a moment, but she quickly speaks over my thoughts. "It's probably stupid for me to be so worked up over it, but back at my old schools I didn't get much reprieve over it. People made fun of it a lot... Even when I started wearing my hair over it I got pestered about it since people already knew..." She looks down a bit. 'Heterochromia' pops into my head. Judging by how she talks about it I'm guessing that she was born with it. "I just wanted to tell you... I don't want to keep secrets from you, since you've been so kind and caring in such a short time of knowing me."

She's so pure and innocent. She was hurt over such a small thing and her entire style changed to accommodate it. I can't imagine bullying someone over such a thing though, it does nothing wrong to her appearance, if anything it's cool to look at. "Elizabeth," I speak, and she looks up at me, seemingly ready to bolt if I say something wrong about it, and I don't plan to. "If I ever make fun of something so simple that has no true bearing on who you are, you have full permission to punch me." Elizabeth lets out a scoff, then follows up with a chuckle. I can see her eyes watering a bit. I can't imagine what her old schoolmates used to bully her about this, I really can't. She's stunning beyond compare even with the slight difference in eyes. "You're beautiful no matter what, Elizabeth." At this she blushes an intense color of red. Before she can even try and look away I reach up and take her cheek on the side of her red eye, cupping it in my hand. Her skin is so soft and smooth. I don't even have anything to compare it to.

I watch as she seems to lightly lean into my touch, and I gently rub my thumb just under her eye, ready to wipe away any tears that she might produce. "What is it... That you... Uhm... Wanted to get off your chest, Meliodas?" Elizabeth is an intense shade of red, and I think she's turning into a cherry with how red she's gotten.

I'd be lying if I try to convince myself that I probably don't look the same. "I'm honestly terrible with words..." I think for a second. Mulling over my options, my words. It takes me only a moment to toss that all aside and I just tell her, "If I cross a line... Just stop me..." I watch her nod slowly in answer. I feel my heart racing like it's in a damn marathon. I might not even get the chance to do this because my heart is about to leap out of my chest and make a run for it. I lift myself up for a moment and pull one leg up to be under me on the bench, giving me a bit of a better height standing with Elizabeth, slightly higher up than her by maybe an inch. 'She's interested, she's leaning into my touch, I've been given every hint possible! Just seal the deal already!' Things said in my head are easier than actually taking the action dammit.

I take in a shaky breath, Elizabeth and I never losing eye contact. I keep my hand on her cheek, the soft touch of her skin keeping me grounded right now. I lean into her, and I think I feel her tilting her head to meet mine. I'm slow, agonizingly at that, and I'm not fully confident in this yet. But the moments it takes for my lips to reach hers feel like full minutes. I close my eyes, my world going dark as I feel my lips touch hers. It sends a shock throughout my body, I feel my nerves on fire in an instant. It's only a slight contact, but I don't feel her pulling away. I feel her lips against mine. I don't know what I'm doing, but I lean into her further, pressing my lips deeper into the kiss, my hand on her cheek sliding down to hold her shoulder gently, keeping her in place as I continue the kiss.

After a moment she responds in kind. I feel her wrap an arm around my neck, holding me in place. That's all I need. I tilt my head slightly to have better access in the kiss. I feel her lips pressing against mine, and it's electrifying my entire system. I reach my other hand around her waist and hold her, leaning deeper into the kiss, deeper into her, but not wanting to dirty her by making her lie on the bench. Everything that I'm doing is purely off instinct, I've never kissed someone before, but I know that if I kissed anyone else before this those experiences would be blank and dull in comparison to right now, I'm positive.

I'm not sure how much time passes of us just kissing each other. It feels blissfully long. But I feel Elizabeth pull her lips away from mine, and I open my eyes to look at her, a flash of worry in my eyes. I then see that she's catching her breath. In all honesty I hardly recognize that I'm doing the same. Her eyes lock with mine, and I smirk at her. Her face is red and flustered, it's an amazing sight. "I... I Guess I... Don't have to get... Something else off my chest." Elizabeth admits, and I smile. She had the same thing on her mind as I did. It takes me off guard a bit, she's an angel, I don't know how I couldn't fall in love with her this fast, but I have no clue how she could feel in any way similarly about me.

I don't know what to say, if anything I don't want to say anything, I just want to keep feeling her lips on mine. I feel her hands take both sides of my face, and I see in her eyes that she wants to keep going, but she's timid. 'She's not one to start interactions like this.' Goes through my head, and I wear a wry grin as I lean in again, connecting our lips once more. It's a bit more intense this time, I feel less reserved, knowing for sure that she wants to be with me as well. I open my mouth a bit into the kiss and flick my tongue out against her lips, I feel her shiver at the feeling. I flick again, trying to get her to open up too. I want to explore her more, explore this sensation as much as I can, while I can.

After a third probing she slowly opens her own mouth in the kiss, and I'm careful as I slip my tongue into her mouth, not wanting to startle her, and also not really looking to have my tongue bitten off. I feel her breathing heavily through her nose, her chest rising and falling, it's taking all my willpower to not focus on the feel of her chest against mine, I'll lose it if I dwell on that. My exploration in her mouth with my tongue is slow and gentle. I feel her hesitating to interact with it, which is no surprise to me. I love her sweet innocence, her timid nature, her trepidation. It's all so intoxicating.

I feel my skin jump when I feel her tongue lightly greeting mine, and I feel myself actually shiver a bit at the feeling, it blends in with her own shivering. She begins to play with my tongue using her own, and I don't know what could be better than simply this right now. I wrap my arm around her waist a bit tighter, holding her closer to me, feeling her against my body. I can't stop myself from letting out a groan at the touch of her body to mine. I feel myself getting tight in my pants and I have to focus on not losing my mind right now. It feels like ages past when she pulls out of the kiss again, this time there's a wet pop sound as she pulls away, catching her breath again. I watch her flustered and bothered face, how red it's gotten, it almost blends in with her red eye. I'm having to catch my breath too, and I never thought I would be so happy to be winded as I am now.

"So... You wanna go out some time?" I ask playfully, and I listen to her giggle like it's the most important thing for me to hear in the world. I can't stop my smile, it's plastered onto my face at this point, and I don't think I would want to even if I could.

"Of course." She gives her breathy answer, and I feel myself being drawn into another kiss at the feeling of her breath against my skin. But she stops me, her hands against my chest. "I don't... Know how much more I can handle... I need a break. I don't want... My mother to see me so flushed..." It's a very true assessment. I had forgotten that my own father and my brother are going to see me after our time is up with each other. I'd rather them not see a smile stuck on my lips with red practically painted on my face. I'd most definitely never hear the end of that. If I survived.

"Alright..." I sound a bit more down about it than intended. Elizabeth just smiles at me though, leans in and pecks my lips gently with hers. I smile back, and she giggles lightly.

"I enjoyed that a lot... It was actually... My first kiss..." She covers her cheeks with her hands, looking away a bit in clear embarrassment of the fact.

I just chuckle and shake my head, "Mine too." She looks at me in shock and I feel my smirk grow on my lips. "I enjoyed it a lot too. I especially look forward to doing it more in the future." I'm not sure how but her blush manages to deepen, and I find pride in my ability to turn her so red. She reaches one hand up to fix her hair back to where it was over her eye and I quickly take her wrist into my hand. "Don't cover it. Not with me. I want to see all of you when we're here." She looks at me in momentary shock, but then smiles at me.

I didn't stretch what I meant. I really want to see all of her. I want to feel all of her. I want her. I've gotta go slow. She's fragile, pure, innocent, beautiful, se- 'Quit it!'


	3. Chapter 3: Suspicious

**Thank you as always to JacklynnFrost for beta reading this chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 3: Suspicious

Elizabeth and I spent more time together. We stayed there for what felt like hours, and I wish it could have been, but in reality, we were only there together for a bit over half an hour. There was no more kissing but not for lack of wanting to. I know for a fact if we kept on at the way we were we would both be beacons of red. I'm shocked that I'm fine with acknowledging that but it's the truth. We just talked instead.

She told me a bit about her time with her uncle Bartra. She's apparently lived with him for the past twelve years. Her mother handed her off to him when she was six and she doesn't process how cruel that is. She just rolls with it as though it's simply the way things are. I have to fight the urge at constant to not rattle off about how cruel and despicable her mother is for that alone, and how she's even worse for taking her back so suddenly and after so long. She needs to figure it out for herself, just telling her won't convince her. Especially coming from someone that she's just met. Even if that person just made out with her.

Eventually, though we had to get going, our parents will be taking us home soon. I don't want to leave her, especially not with her mother, but I don't really get a say in the matter. She gives me her number though, which will allow me to at least keep in touch with her when we're separated. If anything happens I won't hesitate to come and get her. Even if I have to steal dad's car. Which wouldn't be the first or last time.

She went off on her own once we got down from the hill, apparently, she and her mother were going to meet in the staff car park. Which leaves me to walk to the principal's office on my own. I'm actually glad that she isn't with me, I know for a fact Zeldris will be on my ass if he saw me coming back with her in tow. If he didn't already report what he's seen to dad. Which I hope he won't, considering how long I've kept him and Gelda a secret for him. If worst comes to worst I can dangle that in front of him.

I open the door to the principal's office and find it to be just as lifeless as always. Stepping in I glance at the secretary, who as always is in her own world as deeply as possible. I wish I could do the same in all honesty. Looking around though, Zeldris isn't out here like he usually is, waiting for our beloved father to finish whatever important work he has going on in his office.

That's when I hear it. "Meliodas! Get in here!" I jump when I hear my name getting yelled from down the corridor. My hand moves over my heart to make sure it hasn't jumped out of my chest. The man has a sixth sense when it comes to people entering, yet in spite of that, he has a tendency to just ignore people when they're right in front of him, as though they're so insignificant that they aren't worth his time until he decides they are. It's a show of power I've seen him display more than enough times to be done with it.

I walk down the corridor, past Mrs. Deus' office, which is closed and unoccupied, displayed by the lights being off as seen through the small window above the door. The same window is above my father's office. Though I don't know anyone who would willingly come here to see them without already knowing they're here. Even Zeldris and I avoid coming here unless we're specifically called. Which sadly is more often than would be liked.

When I open the door to his office, he yelled loud enough for it to go through the damn door, and down the corridor to the entrance of the principal's office. The lungs on that man can project with the force of a damn freight train. The same can be said when he lets out an ear grating laugh as I enter. "There he is!" God, I want him to just jump out the window behind him and never come back. "I hope you kept the bitch's little birdie in her own little cage and away from her songbirds." 'Yes but not for you, you goddammed meat sack with legs.'

"Yeah. She never even got an introduction to them." I wish I said the other thing, to be honest. He claps his hands together, obviously happy with the answer. Has he always been this annoying? Or is it that I'm just noticing how much he can get on my nerves?

"Excellent. Though I'm not sure we can avoid them being introduced with her mother back in control of her." Don't say she has control over her. She's her own person, not just some toy for her mother to play with like she plays with her precious angels. If she even tries to manipulate her like that, I'm going to give her hell. "So I will be moving to a different strategy for keeping Deus at a disadvantage." I roll my eyes, after a bit over three years of being in the direct lines of his mini-war against Mrs. Deus I've lost all interest in his games. Sadly I'm not exactly capable of telling him what I think of it all, which would be 'stuff it old man, I'm not being your little fucking pawn in a useless tug-of-war with that power drunk control freak.' I don't want an early death though, so I'm going to continue my vow of silence in regards to what I think of him and his selfish antics.

I catch Zeldris looking at me, seeming to be trying to get a read on me. I tense under his gaze, I never tense at his gaze, not even father's. But something about this makes me nervous. Wait. I know why actually. It's because I have something to hide and he seems to know that. He didn't question me running around with Elizabeth earlier, even when we shared classes, and I worry that if he looks at me long enough he'll somehow figure out exactly what happened earlier. 'Get a grip! He can't possibly figure that out just by looking at me!' I snap my eyes away from him and back to dad, and I feel his gaze leave me. My body instantly relaxes as the pressure is relieved.

"Regardless, I hope that you have some dirt on her mother for me. Something that I might be able to use to finally get her fired?" This has been the back and forth end goal. both of them trying to get the other fired. I wish that they'd both get fired. He narrows his eyes at me and I feel like he's reading my thoughts for a second. "Something's off." Thank God, he's not a mind reader. "What happened with that girl?" Fuck. "I was hoping that she might still be with you, I wanted to meet her properly." He doesn't suspect me then. "Where'd you go off with her?" Dammit.

"She wanted to see more of the school, so I showed her around a bit. You never told me to bring her here once the day was up." I hope that will satisfy his curiosity. If he tries to dig any deeper I don't know how many lies it'll take to get him off my back and I don't have any prepared. I was too distracted to come up with anything on my way.

He gazes at me long and hard. It feels like he's staring through me and into my damn soul. He lets out a faint 'hmmm' sound as he stares me down. Then he flings his hand up dismissively, sitting back in his chair exasperatedly. "Ah well, it can't be helped. I'll try to figure something out later. I'm tired of this room. You two head to the car park, I've just got one last thing to handle before we can leave." He waves his hand, telling us to leave in the most dismissive way I can imagine. Zeldris and I just nod through it and take our leave. Walking out of his office and waving goodbye to the secretary, still in her own world, and walk through the halls.

We're both silent. It's kind of unnerving. Zeldris is always the silent type but this is different from the usual silence. I don't know what it is but it makes me uneasy. I expected him to be teasing me about running around with Elizabeth so much. He certainly was a witness to it more than anyone else. If anyone should be aware of how I feel it would be him. Damn brotherly intuition.

"What was with her bangs?" 'huh?' I look at Zeldris, not really following what he means. What bangs? He gives me a look as though I'm an idiot. "Her bangs, dumb-ass. How could you miss her hair over her eye like that?" Oh! That. I forgot about her wearing her hair like that for a bit. She didn't put it back over her eye the whole time we were talking. I'd let it slip my mind that she hides her eye. I feel a smile creep up on my lips without my say so and I quickly shake my head, trying to clear my head. Smiling like a love-struck idiot with him will definitely blow whatever cover I have left.

"Dunno." I answer. "Probably just some style choice or whatever." I feel like I'm shooting myself in the foot belittling her eye like this to cover up the truth. I want to brush her hair out of the way of her eye and tell her just how beautiful she is. I want to do that next chance I get when we're alone together. It's just the truth and she needs to know it. Understand it. It'll be easier to communicate it now that I know that she feels at least similar to how I do. Maybe not quite... The same. But it's enough for me to be able to work on communicating at least a bit of how I feel.

"Whatever it is," I'm snapped back to reality, "it makes her stick out like a sore thumb, not that her white hair wasn't already doing that." I feel myself tensing up, the way he's talking about her hair in such a harsh way is setting me off, and I can tell he's doing it on purpose. He's testing the grounds, trying to get me to slip up and reveal something. I know, because it's the same way I got him to admit to being with Gelda in secret. Bastard is trying to use my own method against me. I don't know if I should be flattered or insulted. Bit of both.

I quickly relax, which isn't quite as easy as it sounds. I give Zeldris a shrug, feeling his inquisitive eyes on me as he tries to find a slip up in whatever way he can. "On the bright side, she looks a lot better than her mother, right?" I offer with a smug grin. Though I certainly don't feel smug. It's just a fact that she's far more beautiful than her mother. Just comparing the two feels wrong. It still baffles me that she's the daughter of that malevolent she-devil.

"That's not a very high bar to pass." He quips back and I chuckle. He doesn't though, seeming to still be looking through me for answers that I'm not going to give him. He may be using my own technique against me, but his mistake was just that, it's impossible to get me with my own tactics. "Whatever, I hope that we don't have to deal with her long." I don't. "The sooner she's out of our hair the better." Not for me. "Wish dad didn't stick us with his menial labor so often." For once I'm glad that he stuffed his issue into my hands because I'm not letting go of this issue for as long as I possibly can. "She would probably get along better with her mother's precious little-" He's cut off as my phone buzzes loudly in my pocket. I thank whatever god there might be that's looking over me because my patience was about to be abandoned in the name of throwing my brother out the nearest window. I pull it out and I feel him glaring at me now, "Rude."

I lift my middle finger on the hand that's holding my phone and he shrugs it off disinterestedly. He turns to face forward again, seeming to give up on his pressuring for answers that I was very near to giving him. I look down and I see it's a text from Elizabeth. I feel my heart skip a beat and it's far from a comfortable feeling. I want more of it. It's a feeling she gives me and I never want to go a day without experiencing it. Her text reads, 'We didn't make plans for that date you asked me for. Did you have something in mind?' That's right. I did kind of ask her out in the heat of that kiss. Wait, fuck don't think of the kiss! I tighten my face and hold back the thought as best I can, trying not to let any kind of blush or smirk grow on my face, if I let that happen I'm screwed. Zeldris may not be looking at me right now but I can't risk him turning around at the wrong moment.

Once I've calmed down a bit I send my reply, 'No, but I can come up with something, when are you free?' I put my phone away into my pocket and look up, meeting a squint from Zeldris. "What're you looking at? Something on my face?" I quip, trying to hide whatever feelings I might have shown in the time that I was replying to Elizabeth. He's definitely onto me. 'How do I throw him off?'

"Yeah. You do." I feel panic shoot through me but I maintain my composure just barely. I tilt my head, showing my face off a bit, trying to play into the jest. "It's your stupidity. It seems to be leaking out." His voice is annoyed and I can tell that I've gotten him off me for at least a bit with that. I snicker lightly, both from the success of my ploy and his terrible comeback.

"We should work on your wisecracks a bit Zel. You may never be as good as me with them but you can get close enough." I smirk at him but he doesn't look back at me. I'm about to open my mouth again to keep going but my phone vibrates. I don't waste a second in grabbing it from my pocket to check it. 'I'll message you when I'm free later. I don't have much to move into mother's' Mother? Just say mom, what's up with that? 'home. The plan is to move the rest of my stuff this weekend. I might not have much time tonight since I want to try talking with mother, maybe connect with her a bit. So I'll message you if I'm free tonight!' I wonder if she thinks it has to be tonight that we go out. When I asked her out I didn't mean it has to be today. I'm not going to say that though, it might discourage her, especially so if she already knows that.

Honestly though, the earlier I get to see her again the happier I am. I've been dreading this small time away as is, it's unhealthy but I don't care. I enjoy any feelings that come onto me because of her. I probably would sound insane saying any of this to anyone that isn't myself. 'I look forward to it. I'll come up with something by then. It'll be a surprise.' I send my response and I don't have to wait for a reply, as it comes immediately in the form of a smiley face. It's such a simple response but I feel happier than ever with it being from her.

I put my phone away and follow along with Zeldris out the doors of the school into the parking lot. He lets out a sigh and shakes his head, taking a seat on the steps down to the asphalt and rests his head in his hands, leaning on his knees. I walk over to the railing and lean my back against it, looking at him carefully. I don't know how much he was able to figure out, but I don't want him figuring out anything more if I can help it. He's aware something's up, it's clear. He just doesn't want to say anything. Maybe I'm giving him more credit than he actually deserves, he could be clueless, but I can't be certain of anything with him or dad. They're both far more perceptive and smart than they look. One slip-up on my part and I'll be an open book for them to read.

"Where were you during lunch exactly?" Zeldris finally asks, I knew it was coming, just not when. Maybe I can play it off as more showing her around the school? Probably my best option in this case.

"I was just showing her around some more. She doesn't like crowds so we avoided the cafeteria. Sorry 'bout that, dad did want me to be her guide after all." He looks through me and into my eyes. It's an unsettling feeling and I'd really like him to stop it. "What's with all these looks today? You jealous that someone else had your beloved brother for the day?"

He scoffs loudly at this, not because it's funny but because he wants to make a point. "The day I'm jealous of someone else having to deal with you will be the day I check into an insane asylum." I snicker at this and he just turns to look at the parking lot. Seeming to have lost interest with that. I let out a mental sigh of relief. I'll be off the hook for at least a little while now.

As if on cue, the door into the school behind us swings open, earning the near instant attention of Zeldris and I. "Alright you two, get a move on, or else you'll be walking home." He means it. I remember Zeldris took a bit too long in saying goodbye to Gelda last year and when he came to the parking lot he watched as dad drove off. The man is ruthless. When he says something he means it.

Zeldris and I are already up and heading down the stairs at his words, not wanting to get ditched in the slightest. I feel my phone buzz in my pocket and I have to resist the urge to check it immediately, not wanting to seem so eager about a text in front of dad. He's sharp, and I know he'll pick up on small details faster than Zeldris does. "Meliodas." I perk up and look back at my dear and beloved father, only to find my real father looking at me curiously. "About the Elizabeth business I have you handling. I'd love it if you could convince her completely to avoid her mother's precious angels. I'm sure with you being the first person she's met here she has set her standards low for the rest of this annoying school," Patience is a virtue. Patience is what keeps me out of prison. Patience is calm and does not smack a- "Whatever the case just keep being yourself with her and she should be done and dusted with soon enough." Myself? What is his perception of me being myself exactly? Does he think I'm like him and use people to get what I want? I'm no bully. Though several people I'm supposed to be friends with kind of are.

That reminds me, I'll have to punch Galand in the stomach again for what he pulled earlier today. Elizabeth probably hoped that she wouldn't run into people who make fun of her eye or her hair when she came to a new school, but instead she nearly got the same treatment if Galand could've had his way. When it comes to keeping her away from Mrs. Deus' precious angels, on the other hand, that's one order I can follow to the letter. "I'll keep her away from those self-righteous assholes, don't worry."

"Watch your language around your father." He says blankly. I feel myself deadpanning at this. I'm pretty sure he calls Mrs. Deus a bitch on a daily basis in front of us if I'm not mistaken. He doesn't seem to register this fact though and continues on without missing a beat. I shake my head slightly but follow along, the sooner we get home the sooner I can plan things out for Elizabeth.

* * *

"Hey!" I jump in my seat and spin around to look at Zeldris. We got home and I retired to my room as soon as we entered. Not wanting to deal with dad longer than I have to. He does the same thing so it's nothing new. Zeldris invading my room though, is new. I spin my chair around to face him, being sure to position myself so that I'm between him and my laptop. I don't want him to see my research on what to do with Elizabeth. It's only been an hour since we got home so it's not likely that I'll be seeing her for a while still, but I want to be prepared for when she is. "Spill already."

I freeze up. Fuck. I figured that he'd put pieces together but I hoped that he wouldn't, not this quickly at least. "Hm?" I raise an eyebrow as though I don't know what he's talking about. I need to at least play dumb. If I just admit outright then he'll get an answer even if he doesn't know for certain yet.

"I'm not dad, I'm not dense." He replies as he closes the door behind him. Dad isn't dense, he's just easily pleased and loses interest once he has a satisfying answer. "Dad went out so you don't have to play stupid with me out of fear of him finding out. I trusted you with Gelda-"

"Technically I found out about Gelda before you trusted me with it." I retort, trying to delay what has quickly become inevitable. Zeldris saw a lot more than our dad did. He saw me running around with Elizabeth, how I forced him out of his seat so she could sit with me. I actually wince a bit remembering that. I think I was a bit harsher than I had to be. Zeldris rolls his eyes at my response, clearly unfazed.

He walks over to my bed and sits on the edge of it, crossing his arms expectantly. "You're not good at secrets. So start spilling so that I can help you keep it from the old man." He's not wrong. Lies aren't something I'm good at.

"If Galand could hear you now he'd faint." I offer with a grin, but he doesn't budge. He's being serious. I hate being serious. I let out a long sight, slouching back in my chair. "Fine..." I groan out. I see a smirk form on his lips and I raise my middle finger pointedly at him. "Wipe that grin off your face before I throw you out the window."

"I'd like to see you try." He offers back. I drop my hand and shake my head. I can't be bothered right now to wrestle him out the window. Or the probable prison time I'd get for murdering my brother. "Get to talking already."

"You're a prick you know that?" I glare at him, crossing my arms, remaining sunk into my chair.

"You're delaying. Quit it." He's right. I'm delaying. If he hadn't called me out for it I'm sure I'd be able to keep it up a bit longer too.

"Whatever. Was I this annoying with you and-"

"Spill already." He cuts me off and I curse under my breath.

"What do you even want?" I ask, partly to delay just a little longer, but also because I don't know how he wants me to answer. I could go off on how beautiful I think she is and how gentle and sweet her personality is, how soft her touch can be, how wonderfully curvy she- 'Stop!'

"Are you interested in her? Are you going to ask her out? Something? I don't fucking know man, I just want to get my debt to you off my ass for you keeping Gelda and I a secret." He huffs as he slouches, leaning on his knees with his elbows.

"You can pay that debt by keeping Elizabeth and me a secret then." He looks up with an evil smirk and I tense immediately.

"So you guys are a thing then?" Fuck. He got me. The little bastard. He got me to admit to it by annoying me to death.

"You're a little runt you know that?" I glare at him, moving my hands to rub my face to get the irritation out of my system.

"I'm your brother so you're just as much of a runt as I am." He shoots back and I cover my face completely with my hands now. I hear him snicker and the urge to throw him out my window just goes up and up. "I won't tell the old man about it of course. I owe you that at the very least." I sigh into my hands before removing them. I'd appreciate that, if not for the teasing and poking that he was just putting me through.

"Thanks..." I mumble. I cross my arms in frustration before sitting back up and spinning my chair around to face my laptop. I glance over at my phone sitting on my desk, its screen alight with texts that I hadn't noticed while dealing with Zeldris evidently.

"Listen I'm happy that you finally found a girl but are you sure it has to be Mrs. Deus' daughter?" I'm blocking Zeldris' words out as I check my texts from Elizabeth. 'I'm free now...' 'Can we do something simple?' 'I kind of want to go to the park.' I'm about to respond when it buzzes with another message from her. 'Already at the park... Sorry. If you don't want to come that's fine.' I feel my heart stop for a moment at the thought of ditching her after being the one to ask her out, but I shake my head, resolving that I'll never flake out on her. "I mean if she's anything like her mother-"

"She is nothing like that power hungry bitch." I snap at him, casting a side glare at him that makes him freeze up. I turn back to my phone to send my reply. 'I'll be there in ten minutes. If it's the park I'm thinking of at least.' I stuff my phone into my pocket and stand from my chair, pushing it back. I reach up into an overhang and grab my keys to the house off it. I also grab my wallet just in case I need it, you never know.

"Mel," Zeldris says softly behind me, I turn with a surprised look at my brother. I've never heard him say something softly before and it's shocked me slightly. "Listen," back to the Zeldris I know, thank god, I was worried about a heart-to-heart there. "I'm happy for you, and I'll support you as best I can, but there's only so much I can do to keep this from dad. You know he's going to be pissed at you."

"He won't be." Zeldris looks at me incredulously as though I've lost my mind. "He'll try using this to his advantage somehow." Which I think is far worse. I'd be fine if he just got pissed off and beat me up over this. Him trying to use my feelings, or worse, hers, to further his agenda is the worst possible result of this. Her mother is the one that will try and stop it and dust it under a rug without anyone knowing. Her precious image of being perfect comes before her agendas. Dad couldn't care less about that so long as he gets what he wants in the end. Zeldris looks at me for a long moment before nodding, seeming to understand.

"Then why get into it?" I raise an eyebrow at him, grabbing my jacket off the wall and putting it on. "Why even get into the relationship if you don't want the repercussions of either parent finding out?"

I pause for a moment. I hadn't thought about that really. Not getting into the relationship to begin with. Did I consider letting the feelings go at any point actually? I let out a small chuckle. Zeldris gives a confused look for that. "I never thought about that." I watch Zeldris slap his face with the palm of his hand loudly. "What about you and Gelda? I'm sure you know the repercussions if dad figures that one out."

He's silent at that. I know we have the same thoughts. We're brothers after all. I wince a bit at that thought, and seeing him wince a bit just tells me that he had the same thought and that only intensifies my wince. "Too soft, no more." He says.

"Agreed, get out of my room dumb-ass I'm heading out," I order him and he doesn't hesitate to listen.

I follow him out the door and I shut it behind me. "Have fun in the rain, don't get her too wet." He says before swiftly walking in the opposite direction of me.

I glare after him. "It's not too late to throw you out the window." I call after him, but he's focused fully on his retreat so he ignores me and turns to go into his room.

I roll my eyes. He's such a pain in the ass and I look forward to the day I don't have to deal with his shit anymore. Though it's not a bad idea- 'Don't feed those damned thoughts!' I shake my head to get the comment out of my head and head for the staircase down. I take the steps two at a time, slowly starting to rush to get to the park. I feel my phone buzz in my jacket pocket and pull it out before I get to the door. 'It's the one not far from the school.' Knew it. I send a quick, 'OMW' and open the door. I instantly sag in my skin as I see the rain. I wasn't really registering it but it is a fairly hard rain. Why exactly did she want to go to the park in this weather? It's fall, this rain is going to be freezing on top of it. Whatever, it's worth it to see her.

I step out into the rain, it's not the worst rain I've been in, I think that it rolled in about ten or fifteen minutes ago so it hasn't had time to make that much mud or anything. I still keep to the pavement and avoid dirt as much as I can. The walk, as expected is about ten minutes of just walking on the sidewalk without seeing anyone else. I'm probably the only person insane enough to be walking around in the rain. But that would make Elizabeth insane too, but I'm certain that she isn't, so she must have some reason for it.

I listen to the rain smacking into my jacket for the whole walk, and it's a relaxing sound, and I would certainly be relaxed if not for the rain that's still able to smack me in the face in spite of my hood being up. I step onto the path to the park and look around. The park has a fence that surrounds it in a wide area, and next to it is a gravel path that goes around the inside of the fence, something for joggers to use. I walk along it a bit, looking around for Elizabeth. It doesn't take long as there's nobody else present. She's in a light pink jacket with a fur lining around the neck. Her hood isn't up though, making it all the more clear that it's her. She's sat on a bench between the gravel path and the fence, her hands fiddling with each other in her lap. She doesn't seem to notice me as I approach, staring off into space.

When I sit down next to her she jumps a bit, looking at me in shock, before relaxing as she sees it's me. I watch a small smile creep up her lips and I feel my heart bounce at the sight. "Daydreaming?" I ask with a playful smirk and she gives a short amused huff of breath, but her eyes return to looking off at the playground idly.

She shakes her head slightly, but is silent. I feel myself worrying about what's wrong. It's clear something happened and her mind is off on it, but she doesn't seem to want to talk- "It's nothing. I don't want to be thinking about stupid things like that." about it... She looks at me with a smile that thaws me out of the freezing rain in an instant and it's already worth the trudging through rain to get here. "This is a date after all, right?" She giggles sweetly and I can't stop myself.

I reach up and brush her hair over her eye out of the way, she tenses at my touch there out of instinct, her face already turning red. I smile at her and she seems to relax a bit with it but her blush is only getting deeper. "You're so beautiful." I say softly and she turns so red I worry for a moment that she might pop. She looks away before she can though, taking my hand off her cheek, and I worry that she didn't like it for an instant, but she holds my hand gently between us, which comforts my worries.

After a couple seconds she sighs a shaky breath before turning to look at me again, still a little red but in control again. Her hair stays out of the way of her red eye and I'm glad that she isn't trying to cover it up again. "Sorry about the weather. I just really like the rain. It soothes me... It probably sounds weird doesn't it? Most people just like to listen to it, but I like to be in it."

I shrug, looking around the park from where we're sat. I grip her hand in mine lightly, relishing in the feeling of her touch. It's soft, caring, and relaxes me in an instant. I don't know why, but with her I just feel at ease. "Everyone has their quirks. This one is pretty sweet if you ask me." I turn to face her and give her a wry grin. "If you're cold at all I can-"

"Oh! By the way," I deflate a bit as she cuts me off. I'm not sure if it was on purpose or she wasn't hearing what I was saying. It's probably for the best that she cut me off, I was probably being a bit cheesy. I just want to hold her in my arms, that's not too much to ask. She pulls out her phone and holds it with one hand, while the other hovers over it to try protecting it from the rain as she faces it to me. It's our texts? She points to my last message, 'OMW,' "What's this mean?"

I blank unintentionally and she seems to notice. Pulling it away and I watch her blush a bit. "You don't know what OMW means?" It's a bit weird, I've not really met people that don't understand text speech. I kind of just figured anyone with a phone understood it.

"I'm... Not really familiar with text-speech... I don't have many people to text, so I never really learned the different acronyms..." She's tensed up and avoiding looking at me. She's getting shy and I feel bad for thinking that it just makes her look even more adorable than she already does.

I give her hand a slight squeeze, pulling her attention to me and I smile at her softly. "It means 'on my way.' I'll keep that in mind when I text you in the future. I'll be sure to include a definition of the acronym whenever I send one."

She lets out a small giggle at that. I feel her thumb lightly tracing a circle on the back of my hand and it sends a bit of a chill up my arm, the tender touch, it's more comforting than I would expect it to be, and it pulls me all the deeper into her. "That seems a bit excessive, don't you think?"

I shrug a little. "A lot of things can seem excessive, but can prove to be necessary. It might seem excessive for me to include a definition whenever I send an acronym to you, but it will help you when you inevitably get more friends." She blushes at that and my smile turns into a devilish grin. "This might seem excessive." When I finish that word, I lean in and press my lips to hers, I feel her tense up at first, but as I wrap my free hand around her waist to hold her against me, she slowly relaxes into my touch.

I tilt my head into the kiss, our last one started soft but then got deep, but this time I want the depth right off the start. I flick my tongue against her lips in the kiss and she slowly accommodates my request of entry. I press my tongue into her mouth and gently explore her, feeling around inside before inevitably playing with her tongue with mine. I feel her shivering against me slightly, and I know it's not from the cold, because I'm holding back my own. I press deeper into the kiss, as though our lips could get any closer if I just will it enough. I feel her free hand press against my chest, not pushing me away, but feeling me. It slowly slides up my jacket and wraps around my neck on the outside of my hood, pulling me against her.

I have to stop myself before I lose myself in the kiss. Pulling away gently and slowly to make it last as long as possible. A faint wet pop sounds as our lips disconnect and Elizabeth blushes insanely red at the sound. I smirk at her before finishing what I was saying before the kiss, "But I'd argue it's the most necessary thing in my life right now."

I watch Elizabeth turn so many shades of red before she decides that words aren't necessary and just leans in to kiss me this time. For a second I think my heart stops at the feeling of her engaging the kiss this time. It's so different from being the one to start the kiss and I'm not sure why, but it drives me insane just like when I kiss her, but for with its own unique sensations. I feel her tongue timidly poke at my lips, trying to do what I did with her, and I grin widely into the kiss. I had no clue that it would feel so different to be the one receiving the kiss from giving it. I figured it would just be the same, but it's just as exhilarating for an array of different reasons.

I open my lips into the kiss for her, holding my tongue back with every ounce of willpower I have, letting her feel around on her own. It's slow, cautious, as though she's afraid at any moment I'll bite her tongue off. I faintly hear thunder off in the distance but that's not important right now. Elizabeth leans into me, and I have to focus on not falling back and letting her lie on top of me. As amazing as that would be, the weather makes that an uncomfortable position here. I think there's a gazebo in the park but I can't break off this kiss to bring up the idea. I don't want to break this kiss for even a moment. I'd be fine with suffocating in this kiss if not for the fact that it would mean never getting to share kisses like this with her again.

I wrap my arm around her waist tighter, as though I could pull her deeper into me if I try hard enough. In spite of the cold I feel hot right now, and I worry that if we did this in the summer we'd both literally melt into each other rather than figuratively like we are right now. Then I feel her lightly pressing her tongue against mine, and I lose all focus on holding back in the kiss. I press myself against her, my lips deeper into hers, and I thing I hear a faint moan from her but I'm too out of it right now to register much. I play with her tongue in my mouth, and she lets me. I reach one hand up to hold the back of her neck, gently rubbing my thumb against the side of it as I hold her gently in the intense kiss.

It doesn't last much longer though, as my lungs start to protest the kiss in demand of oxygen. I regrettably pull away once again and open my eyes to look at her face. Her eyes still closed for a moment, and the image of her blissful face sends a jolt through my system. We're both panting, our breaths slightly visible between us. I catch my breath quickly and give her a wry grin, her face flushed a deep red. "How'd you like being the one to kiss me instead of me kissing you?" I ask playfully, my hand on her neck sliding up gently to cup her cheek. My thumb rubbing against her skin lightly.

She leans into my touch, her eyes finally opening and looking into mine, before looking away shyly. "I think you're better at it than I am..." I shake my head at this.

"You're amazing at it." I state as though it is the most obvious thing in the world. "Give yourself more credit Elizabeth. You're stunning, you're kind, and you're a great kisser." I watch her squirm at my words, evidently she's not used to such compliments. That just inspires me to compliment her all the more any chance I get.

"You're... A great kisser too..." She speaks slowly, still timid and bashful in all the ways that draw me into her. "You're also kind." 'Not that kind... Only for you.' "You're also really..." I tense a bit, not sure what way she's going to compliment me next. "Really handsome." I relax at her words. I'd have lost my manhood if she said I'm cute or something like that.

In spite of how blissfully enjoyable this moment is, something ticks at the back of my head. I can't stop myself from asking her, "Did something happen at home? I thought you were going to try connecting with your mother." I'm sure I know the answer already, but I want her to tell me, it will help her in figuring out what her mother really is for one, but it's also important for me to not just jump to conclusions. As much as I'd love to leap her all the way to the conclusion that her mother is a control addicted psycho bitch.

Elizabeth turns her head away from me, not meeting my gaze anymore. "She... wasn't interested in talking... She told me house rules, and they were pretty obvious things I think, but she didn't seem to care much beyond making sure that I don't make a mess of her home and that I keep my grades up... I tried asking for a curfew so that I knew how long I'd have with you... She told me that if I can't figure out when to be home on my own then I was hopeless..." Bitch. That fucking bitch. The next time I see her it's going to take all of my damn willpower and strength to not strangle her for continuing to neglect her own daughter after ripping her from a happy life without her.

I'm silent, having to cool myself off so that I don't immediately start rattling off these thoughts that would land me in prison. Luckily Elizabeth is looking away so she doesn't see this happen. After a minute of silence I wrap my arms around her and hug her gently to myself, rubbing her back lightly, resting my chin on her head, not wanting her to see how painfully my teeth are gritting together. "Don't worry about her, Elizabeth." I say softly, and I hope that she can hear me clearly enough in spite of the rain. When I feel her hands wrap around me to hug me tightly, I think that she heard well enough. "Don't let her get to you, if she does then she wins."

I feel her nod against my chest, slowly I move one hand up from her back to rest on the back of her head, holding her against me gently. I hate to admit that it feels nice, holding her to myself like this. I shouldn't be thinking like that when I'm consoling her but I can't help it. 'Focus you perverted fuck!' I shake my head to snap the thoughts from my head. I just need to be here for her right now. I can't be thinking greedy thoughts like that.

I feel her pulling away lightly, so I loosen my grip on her and let her sit up again, her lips curved up in a smile at me. I feel my heart skip a beat as she reaches a hand up and touches my cheek gently. Then she slowly slides it up and I feel like I'm going to lose my sanity in her wet touch. She pulls back my hood and looks at my wild hair. She reaches up her other hand and starts trying to comb it down, but it just springs back up again. She tries again, but is only met with the same result. She lets out a sigh and I just chuckle. The rain wets it but it only helps marginally in getting it to stay down. "Why is your hair so uncooperative?" She asks in mock frustration as she continues to try and pet it down.

I smirk at her playfully as she continues to struggle with my hair. "Because it wants you to keep touching it." She blushes furiously at this and puffs her cheeks as she continues to try and keep it down. After about a minute of this I take her wrists into my hands and guider her hands to my side. She looks at me curiously, and I have to stop myself from starting another kiss just yet. I nod over to the gazebo not far from the bench. "Let's sit in there instead." She listens to my suggestion and nods slowly. I let go of one of her wrists and stand up, sliding my other hand from her wrist to holding her hand between us. She stands up with me and we walk over to the gazebo together. Once under the cover of it I shake my head, sending the water in it flying around, I grin as I hear a slight yelp from Elizabeth and watch her shield her face with her free hand out of the corner of my eye.

I smirk at her once I'm done. "Give me some warning next time?" She asks through a light chuckle.

"I'll think about it, but I like hearing your cute little yelp." I grin as she bites her lip to keep her mouth shut. We walk over to the bench along the railing of the gazebo, it's not wet like the bench was, so I already like it a lot more. Once we're sat down I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her closer to me. "I'm sorry you're stuck with your mother at some new school." I hardly register what I'm saying, too in the moment with her to really process what's coming out.

"It's fine." Her voice is soft as she leans her head on my shoulder. I look over at her and her eyes are closed. "If I didn't have to move to this school I wouldn't have met you..." I watch her face turn red again and I can't help the smile that creeps up my lips. "I didn't have anything to really keep me at my old school anyways... I didn't have many friends there... The only thing I've lost really is Bartra, but I'll still see him now and then."

I rub her side absentmindedly. "We've not even known each other a full day you know?" I glance to her with a wry grin and she just shrugs.

"Is it wrong to feel this close to someone in such a short time?" Once again I'm being drawn in so deep without her even trying. I reach up with my free hand and take her chin between my index finger and thumb, guiding her into another kiss. This time neither of us is really in control of it. We both just press our lips together and meet in the middle. When I move my tongue to try and get into her mouth she's done the same, resulting in us meeting in the middle. We both play with the other's tongue using our own. It's not heated like the other kisses, this is soft, slow. I feel myself melting at the feeling of her lips on mine, our tongues dancing together. It's all so new to me, to both of us, yet the motions come to us like it's only natural.

I pull away from the kiss slowly, lingering as long as I can as I pull away, and I hear the smallest whimper from the back of Elizabeth's throat. I have to tighten the leash on myself from diving right back into her sweet taste. "If it's wrong then being right is overrated." I smile as I listen to Elizabeth's small chuckles. I reach up with one hand and caress her cheek gently, rubbing my thumb under her red eye. "I hope that someday you'll wear your hair like this all the time. You shouldn't hide your beauty."

Elizabeth turns red once again at this and bites the corner of her lip nervously. I mean it though, I want her to take pride in her image. I want her to be herself whenever she can be. Hiding what people think is an imperfection isn't what I want for her. "Maybe... Someday..." That's the best I can hope to get right now. It's not an easy thing to not only break a habit but to become proud of something that people have always picked on you for.

I watch her face fall a bit thinking about it, and I don't hesitate to start cheering her up. I place my hands on her sides and lift her up swiftly, causing her to yelp in surprise. I set her down on my lap facing me, I smirk up at her, showing some teeth as I do. "The bench isn't a worthy seat for you. Allow me to replace it." She giggles at my words and I watch her pinch her lips together nervously. But no matter what I do those lips just draw me in again.

I lean up a bit and press my lips to hers once more. This time I'm definitely in control, not just of the kiss, but myself. I'm not in some love haze, I'm aware fully of what I'm doing and I love every second of it. I capture her lips in mine and she instinctively opens her mouth to let my tongue slide in to meet hers. I take advantage of this instead, and avoid meeting her tongue, teasing her by roaming every corner of her mouth except her tongue. She lets out a small groan of frustration, and that only goads me on. I wrap my arms around her waist and hold her close against me, our chests pressed against each other and I feel her heartbeat against mine. It's fast, and I know she can feel mine is racing with hers.

If it weren't for the location, the jackets, and the rain, I'd probably have started going further than I should this early on, so I'm thankful for all three of those things holding me back right now. In spite of those things though I do still slide my hands down to the hem of her jacket and slide my hands under it, feeling her shirt before I slide under that too. I trace my hands slowly up the small of her back. Her skin is so soft and relaxing to the touch. I feel her shiver at my touch, and I shiver as well, not from touching her, but I'm just now realizing that one of her hands is sliding up my own shirt, pressed against my chest. I feel the other coming through my hair, holding me in the kiss, not wanting to let me get away, and I have no plans of trying to escape.

I don't adventure far up, holding myself back ferociously, like keeping an overly social dog on a leash. I don't stop her, nor intend to stop her, as she continues to feel up my chest. I'm fairly well built for my height, so I have no shame in her feeling me up like this. I'm actually glad that she is, it makes all that exercise and training worthwhile to have her feeling me up right now. Feeling the small of her back right now is the height of the day. Every little move I make sends shivers up her body, and she pays me back in kind with her feeling up my abs.

All the while I've still not even started to play with her tongue, inciting more groans of desire from her, and I eat up every single one that she lets out. After about a minute of teasing her though I relent, finally losing the fight with my own desire, and press my tongue against hers. She responds in kind, playing with my tongue in her mouth excitedly. I may not be experienced with kissing, or even dating in general, but I just feel right in this moment. Even with the rain loudly clattering against the gazebo, the far off thunder claps, the worries of our parents finding out, all of that isn't important. I couldn't care less what her mother thinks. I'll fend off my father no matter what it takes. I'll keep her away from those damn teacher's pets and I'll most certainly keep her far from my friends. I'll do anything to keep her to myself. I just want these moments between us. I don't know if it's the thrill of the stolen moments, or if it's just all her, but I love every second that I spend with her. And this is all in just one day of knowing her. I can't imagine what else is to come, but so long as I have her with me, I couldn't care less what happens. Just so long as we're together.


	4. Chapter 4: Prodigy

**As always a big thank you to JacklynnFrost for betareading this! Thank yous go out to everyone who reviews this fic as well! I really appreciate every single one!**

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Chapter 4: Prodigy

I wish I could have stayed longer. I wish so hard that we didn't have to return to our respective terrible parents. Maybe if I wished harder it would have happened. Sadly wishes don't get granted so easily. Our final kiss lasted the longest, and I think it's because neither of us wanted to leave. It would have been nice to just die happy from suffocating in that kiss. There are certainly worse ways to go.

We parted eventually though, and the rain was still hard when we both left the gazebo and went our separate ways. I wanted to walk her home, but she reminded me that her mother wouldn't be happy if she spotted me. I could have still walked her at least part of the way, but she was very convincing when she pecked me on the cheek with those soft lips and told me that she'll be fine. I was paralyzed by the kiss more than convinced to stop pressing my offer, and she seemed to take advantage of that and left while I was in shock. Yeah we kissed countless times in just the hour or so prior to that cheek kiss, but with her I can't help but always be speechless.

I'm going crazy and I'm fine with no longer being sane if it's for her.

When I get back home dad's still out, evident by the fact his car is MIA. I open the front door and enter, not bothering to wipe the mud that is most definitely on my shoes and instead kick them off and send them tumbling along to join the rest of the shoes by the door.

"You could at the very least be more gentle, those shoes do nothing but support you all day. That's no fun for anybody." I think for a second that it's Zeldris sassing me, but then I realize that Zeldris doesn't sound like a young girl. I look up and around until my eyes land on the origin of the voice. Merlin. Daughter of a family friend of dad's and someone with enough intellect to skip through not just one but two grades, landing her in sophomore year in our high school at the age of fourteen. I still find it kind of insulting that, even then, she's still smarter than me.

"What're you doing here Merlin?" I groan out, pulling off my jacket and hanging it up on the coat hanger by the door. I would have just thrown it if not for Merlin being present and watching my cleanliness like a damn hawk.

"Papa's having another fit, so I called your dad to ask if I could stay over tonight while he works through it." She shrugs. I wince a bit, I've only seen him in a fit once and it wasn't a pretty sight. He's fine sometimes, but even then he's not a very pleasant person. After the accident a couple years back he's just not been the same. I never really knew him to begin with, but my father and him were good friends from what I know, so when it happened dad promised Merlin that if she ever needs anything our home is her home. He's been nicer to her than he ever is with Zeldris, which I'm not jealous of, it's honestly unnerving to see him being nice with someone, I'd hate to be the subject of it.

"What is it this time?" The question sounds invasive, but with how many random symptoms her father shows, you'd think that he just rolled a die and let it decide what was going to make him crazy today. I don't really recall the accident, dad didn't go into much detail with Zeldris or I, but he was in some degree involved I know that much. That's probably why he kisses up to Merlin the way he does, doesn't want her to turn it into a thing.

"Screaming about the abyss or something. I feel bad for the caretakers more than anything. When I left I think he was trying to fight them off with a broom while calling them 'filthy indura' or something." I blink at her in confusion and her only answer is just another shrug.

"When are you going to put him into an asylum?" I ask with one eyebrow cocked up. The stories I hear about him I swear he should have been admitted to one years ago.

"When he stops having moments of clarity maybe..." She turns her gaze away from me. Too much. She cares about him despite how cold she's gotten about his ailment. I don't know if there's even been a specific diagnosis to be honest, he just seems to be every kind of crazy thrown into one poor soul. Making the asylum poke was a step too far though.

I walk over and sit with her on the step. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Don't go getting soft on me or I'll hack into the school and fail all your classes." She glares at me and I feel my whole body tense up. If fear manifested itself as a person it decided to do it through this small girl when she was born.

"You can't do that..." I don't speak confidently at all, and the way she quirks an eyebrow at me makes me question my statement. "Fine, I'm not sorry."

She grins at my retraction of my apology. "Good. Enough people feel sorry for me and it gets tiring." She brushes her hair back behind her ears and sighs before standing. "What's for dinner then?"

I look at her blankly for a second. "I don't remember agreeing to feed you."

"Who would want you to ever feed them? I'm definitely the last person to want that." I didn't think it was possible for me to want to kick a fourteen year old girl out into the rain and lock her out, but here I am, finding that idea to be very enticing. "No, we can order some food can't we? Or maybe you'd like to try some of my cooking?" She asks with an all too uncomfortable grin.

I shake my head side to side as fast as I can without snapping my neck. "I'm not your guinea pig, I'm not about to let you nearly kill me with whatever abominable food you try to feed me." She sighs exasperatedly. "Don't you give me that, last time you cooked something Zeldris was curled up in a corner rocking back and forth for an hour!"

"That was you not me!" I hear a faint call from upstairs. Zeldris is evidently avoiding the encounter with Merlin all together.

"It was actually both of you. Plus you have no place to talk Melly," I will always regret letting her give me a pet name. "If I recall correctly Zeldris couldn't even swallow what you made, his eyes were also watering for the rest of the day."

"Stop using me as the reference for both of your terrible cooking skills!" I smirk as Zeldris screams out at us from his room. If he interjects again I might just go up and drag him out of hiding. I'm not sure why but Zeldris is almost afraid of Merlin. It might have something to do with the elaborate pranks that she pulls on people. She only ever does it when people upset her, and after Zeldris messed with her pet snake a couple months back Merlin didn't leave room for mercy when she got revenge on him. I don't know what he did to the snake but I'm confident it wasn't a quarter of the damage that she brought onto Zeldris. I don't even know what she did but Zeldris came home one day with wide eyes and a silence that resembled the depths of space about him. He wasn't the same again for about a week. Since then he avoids Merlin like she's some kind of human sized disease.

Merlin just shrugs it off though and walks off to the kitchen. I quickly stand and follow after her. "Dad will be home soon, you can ask him for food when he gets back."

"He's not going to be back tonight." She states blankly. Pardon? I raise an eyebrow at her and before I can get a word in edgewise she answers my confusion. "He said that he won't be back by a reasonable hour tonight so you two are supposed to look after me." She looks up at me innocently. What's demeaning about the look isn't the sarcasm of it but the fact that she's four years younger than me and she doesn't have to look that far up to look me in the eyes.

I sigh in defeat. "Fine. We have some leftover pizza in the fridge, we're not ordering when we have that to get through still." I see the devilish glint in her eye fade to one of defeat. In some ways I'm glad now that Zeldris and I ordered too much food on dad's card yesterday. It's paying off in the form of not having to fight with Merlin over what to order. I smirk at her playfully, "Problem?" She swiftly raises her middle finger to me and I gasp.

"Oh shut it. I know more curses than you and Zeldris combined." I have no way of denying that in any confident sense. "Learn to read and you might find a few of them." I shake my head, trying to process that insult fully.

"I know how to read." I retort as I walk over to the fridge to retrieve the leftovers I had to pack on my own, damn Zeldris.

"Could've fooled me." She says to my back and I have to remind myself that she's only going to get sassier as she grows up. I'm not sure how it's going to be possible with how sassy she can be as is, but it wouldn't be the first time that Merlin defies boundaries. Back in middle school one of her teachers regularly gave extra credit, which she took in a heartbeat despite having a hundred average as is. At the end of the year, the way that the teacher usually processed extra credit, would have left her with a hundred-ten percent final grade, so the teacher had to readjust the way he processed extra credit work entirely. I couldn't tell if she was smug about forcing him to rework the extra credit, or upset that she was denied a hundred-ten percent average and had to settle for a simple hundred. I'd settle for a nice eighty, she's bloodthirsty for quite literally breaking grade scales.

"You know I could just not feed you?" I can't really but I need to put that out there to maintain some kind of authority.

"I wonder how your dad will respond to seeing all Fs on your report card." She offers with a playful smirk as I pull out a box of pizza and set it on the counter.

"That's your fatal error, you assume dad looks at my report card, he cares about as much about report cards for Zeldris and I as much as he cares about the aerodynamics of pigs in flight." I grab some plates from the cupboards and start putting slices on them.

"That's a big word from you, are you okay? Did it hurt saying it?" She has a devilish grin on her lips, I don't need to look at her to know that.

"You're a big fan of recycling using your same jokes over and over again." I take the first plate to the microwave and pop it in.

I hear Merlin audibly groan in disgust. "Are you really just microwaving it? You could at least use the oven instead."

"Why would I bother doing that when I could just nuke it?" I shrug as I set the microwave and it hums to life. I turn around and lean my back against the counter, looking at Merlin sat at the dinner table, which sees about as much use as our attic does.

"Whatever you say nineteen-forties America." She chuckles to herself.

"Sorry?" I don't follow what the joke is whatsoever, and I watch Merlin drop her face to smack onto the table audibly. I actually wince a bit at the sound. "Sorry I'm not a damn history nerd like you."

"It happened less than a hundred years ago, you don't need to be a history nerd you just need to know the smallest details of the second world war." With that the joke finally clicks into place in my head and I let out a long 'oohhhhh' as I realize what she meant. "Sometimes I wonder if we should have you checked for cobwebs in your brain. But then I remember that your head is the last place a spider would want to set up its home. Information has enough trouble, let alone flies."

I raise my middle finger to her and she lets out a gasp like the mock one I did earlier. "Don't dish it out if you can't take it." I tell her simply, and she shrugs, giving up the act.

"Where'd you run off to by the way? Since when do you go out walking in the rain?" I freeze up at the question. The last person I want knowing about Elizabeth and I is my father, second is her mother, and third on the list is Merlin. The reason for that is because she'll never stop teasing me on the fact, demanding to meet her to give her approval, and as a result of that, she'll end up letting that information slip to public knowledge.

I just give her a shrug and say, "I needed some air." Thinking about that wording it's very far from the reality, because I wasn't getting much air most of the time I was out.

"So you decided to go walking around in the rain?" She quirks a suspicious eyebrow and I turn around to avoid looking at it, opening the microwave a few seconds early. I walk over to the table and slide the plate over to her. She visibly recoils in disgust.

"Be happy it's not my cooking or yours." I grin as I walk back to grab another plate and pop it into the microwave.

"That's like telling a stabbing victim to be happy that it wasn't a stab to the jugular." I avoid asking to confirm what the jugular is. I'm pretty sure that it's an important blood vessel in the neck but if I ask to confirm that with her she's just going to insult me more. Not to say that it's unfair mockery. I'm no biology expert.

I'm silent as I wait for the microwave to finish heating up my slices. It's a long uncomfortable stretch of silence. I glance over at Merlin and she's eating, which gives some reason for why she's stopped pestering me, but it still rubs me the wrong way for some reason. I pull out my phone and check it, wanting to see a text from Elizabeth. I'm not expecting one, I didn't ask her to message me when she got home, but it would be nice to keep talking with her in some form even though the 'date' is over. It was hardly even a proper date. I need to figure something out for us to do... But that would be too risky doing a public date, anyone could see us together.

The microwave dings and I snap out of myself to open it, retrieving my food and going to the dinner table. The only time this thing sees actual use is when Merlin is over. I don't mind its lack of use though, having family meals with dad would be just as unnerving as seeing him be a nice caring person. It just doesn't work.

We're both silent as we eat, and that silence is not, in any way, comforting. I like silence as much as the next guy, but not when it's so unnerving. Merlin's too perceptive for me to avoid telling some level of the truth. She's a bloodhound when it comes to secrets, and she likes to have as many of those as she can get her hands on.

I feel my phone buzz in my pocket and I don't waste a second pulling it out and checking it. It's a text from Elizabeth and I feel my heart skipping over several beats. 'Sorry about running off earlier. i just really had to get back. I'll make it up to you I promise!' She closes the text with a smiley face and I don't usually like emojis, but I'm fine when they're coming from her. They suit her light and sweet personality. I reply with 'It's no problem, though I do look forward to seeing how you make it up to me." I consider for the smallest of moments sending a winky face but come to the fastest decision in my life that emojis do not fit my personality and never should.

"Who're you texting?" Merlin gives me a curious look, and I know her suspicions are are their peak right now.

"Just Melascula." I answer quickly before putting the phone back into my pocket. I shrug and she raises an eyebrow as high as it can go I think.

"I've never seen you pick up a text from Melascula so fast. Be careful or else you might make Galand jealous." She smirks knowingly and I haven't a clue why.

I pick up my plate, a whole slice leftover as I've rapidly lost my appetite and I suspect Merlin's interrogation will only continue taking it away, so I throw it out and put the dish in the sink. "I think that Galand would be more relieved I'm taking her off his shoulders for a few minutes than he'd ever be jealous."

Merlin gives a smug knowing grin that just screams she knows something nobody else does. "They hate each other on the surface sure, but it's very impressive how much time two people who hate each other spend together."

I blink, processing this assessment. The times that they've cussed each other out, argued over pointless things, gotten frustrated when people commented on their old married couple dynamic. I shake my head. "You make the most outlandish conclusions sometimes."

She smirks fiendishly. "You willing to make a bet on it?" She offers with an all too smug grin on her face.

As soon as I see that face I know that I'd be losing money, it doesn't matter what it is, when Merlin is willing to make a gamble she's confident in being right, and when Merlin is confident of something it almost never fails her expectations. "Nevermind, I'll trust your judgement."

Merlin lets out a long and frustrated groan. "Come on. You're no fun anymore."

I scoff loudly at that. "Nobody should ever make bets against you because it's worse than just throwing money into a fireplace. At least the fireplace gives warmth in return, you just laugh maniacally as you take the money." To be fair though it's the most impressive evil laugh I've ever heard, especially from a small girl.

She chuckles in that same evil way and I shiver instinctively in fear of that laugh. "Evidently I've made too many bets with you." She picks up her plate, which has been cleaned of food, and brings it over to the sink, dropping it in with a clatter before returning to her seat. I'm about to ask something when her phone dings in her pocket, and she pulls it out. I now know how Zeldris felt earlier when I ignored him to check if it was a text from Elizabeth. "Oh! SisSis!"

...What? Did I hear that right? "SisSis?" I ask in immense confusion.

I watch Merlin's mouth hang open and her eyes glaze over. I think I see a bead of sweat running down the side of her face. Evidently, she didn't mean to let that slip from her tongue. Then she shakes her head and snaps out of it. "You're not the only ones who support me... I have other families that help me..." Her face is red despite trying to hide it by looking away from me.

It's not an outlandish idea. I suspected it myself considering how she doesn't come over as often as her father's fits supposedly happen. I brushed over the idea originally though assuming that she would just bear with the fits, evidently though my original thoughts were correct. I feel bad for the poor soul that stuck her with the nickname SisSis though. "Why haven't we met any of these other families?" I rest my elbow on the table and hold my head up with my hand.

"Have you ever needed to meet them?" She glares at me and I just give her a shrug. "Whatever. I just... Feel bad for SisSis. She's not in the best of spots right now." I raise an eyebrow. Weird, I didn't think it was possible for Merlin to feel bad for anybody.

I decide maybe I should try supporting Merlin, I may be terrified of her more often than not but she's like a little sister to me. Though if I get too mushy she'll cut out my tongue, and frankly, especially lately, I quite like my tongue. "What's going on with her?" Simple question, nothing mushy, my tongue will remain in my mouth for now.

She glances at me suspiciously and considers me for a moment. "You're not trying to get with my SisSis are you?" I feel like I've been slapped in the face. Not just because I'd never want to be with anyone other than Elizabeth, but also because everyone who knows me knows I've never been interested in relationships. So Merlin suspecting me of wanting to hook up with her SisSis is outlandish even without Elizabeth in the equation.

"No, you know I'm not interested in any relationships Merlin." That response is a bit rockier ground for maintaining my tongue but it's the truth... At least it was.

She eyes me cautiously a bit longer before letting out a short sigh. "She's being forced to move back in with her mother." That's oddly coincidental. "She was living happily with her uncle for years," That's strangely familiar actually. "now though her control freak mom, who I also know, is reigning her back in just to prove a point." ...Wait a minute... "Today was her first day at our school but I wasn't there today to meet up with her and show her around." ... "She says that she met a nice boy who helped her a lot at least." ...Fuck... "Are you listening Meliodas?" I realize I am deadpanning as she speaks and I snap myself awake. Merlin knows Elizabeth! She knows Mrs. Deus?! Bartra?! How is she so connected and dad never knew any of this? Do any of them know?

"Yeah..." I say shakily. Merlin narrows her eyes on me like a hawk and I have to meet her gaze because if I turn around she's only going to get more suspicious of me.

"You were in school today... You wouldn't happen to have seen a silver haired girl around, have you? Maybe even in your classes?" I feel like she's firing daggers out of her eyes and piercing my whole being right now.

"I'm not sure. I don't really... Really pay attention in class. You know that." I couldn't be a worse liar when it comes to Merlin. She's got this strange way of getting people to fess up. Galand has the same kind of aura about him but it doesn't work if you know him already. With Merlin it's universal.

She eyes me for what feels like ages. Then she closes her eyes and shrugs. "You're right. I'm expecting a bit much for you to remember any kind of small details in school." I don't know if I should be offended or relieved. "However," Secret option C it is, terrified. She opens her eyes and glares at me once more. "I could just ask SisSis for a description of the boy who helped her out. I wonder what his hair looked like." That's a low blow because I'm pretty sure I'm the only person with blonde hair that's this unruly.

"Fine!" I submit, dropping my forehead against the table. I knew there was no winning that, I had to at least try though. "I was the one that helped out Elizabeth..."

Her response is almost instantaneous, "Stay away from my SisSis." No way. "I don't know what your dad wants with-"

I swing my head up and glare at her and she freezes up at that. "Dad has fucking nothing to do with her, and never will, if I can help it." My voice is so low and dark that it even shocks me. I watch Merlin's eyes go wide for a moment before she shakes off her shock and glares me down. This time though I don't relent.

"Why are you being so nice to her then? I thought you said you never had any interest in a relationship." Her glare intensifies, as though she's an animal protecting her territory. "You're not planning to-"

I cut her off instantly as soon as I know what she's going to ask. "No. I'm not after her body, I'm insulted you would even think that Merlin." Though I can't deny that she is very beautiful physically but I would hate myself if I were to only see her for that. She's far more than that. "She even trusted me with her secret." I can't stop myself. I need to convince Merlin that Elizabeth trusts me, and she should too.

I watch Merlin tense up, her mouth hanging in shock. Evidently, that's gotten her attention. "She trusted you after a day of knowing you?" She asks the question almost jealously. I've never heard of Merlin being jealous, let alone witnessing it first hand. She lets out a humph sound and crosses her arms, phone still in hand. "Fine... Elizabeth trusts you... Then I trust you, for now. But mark my words, if you think what I did to Zeldris was traumatizing, you won't even see what's coming for you if you hurt Elizabeth." I nod, leaning back in my chair. For being a fourteen year old girl, Merlin probably behaves more like Elizabeth's mother than her real one.

"You'll have to get in line behind me because I'll be first to take shots at myself if I ever let that happen." She eyes me for a moment longer before shrugging and checking her phone properly now.

She raises an eyebrow at her phone then glances at me, then back at the phone, repeating this several times. "Hm." What? "Out for some air, huh?" She asks with a faint glare behind her eyes. Elizabeth might have unintentionally killed me with a single text.

* * *

Merlin stayed the night in the guest room. Dad doesn't show up at a reasonable time as he said, we're all asleep by that point. In my sleep though I wish I could stay in my dreams forever.

Elizabeth and I are in the rainy park like earlier. Details are muffled, everything's blurry and I can't hear much. For a second I worry it's actually a nightmare. But then I feel my neck getting bitten and my nerves light on fire in an instant. Things come into focus then, I'm lying on the bench in the gazebo, Elizabeth lying on top of me. Her face is in my neck and my head's tilting to the side for her. I don't know what's happening but I like it a lot. My hands wrap around her, but it's not the same feeling I had when I was awake. I take it though. Even if it's just a dream, a poor imitation of Elizabeth given by my mind I'm more than happy to take it to the fullest.

I don't actually have much control of myself. It's more like I'm just along for the ride in the dream than in control of my own actions. Which honestly is driving me more insane than the dream Elizabeth's actions. I want to be able to flip us over so that I'm on top, I want to dip into her neck and taste her skin. Feeling it was nice, but the idea of marking her... That's just too much for me to resist. The dream is holding me back though. Kind of like my consciousness when this is happening in real life. Except this isn't real life. I should be allowed to indulge in my dreams dammit.

It's like the roles are switched right now, I want to be doing the more but my body is holding back for less. Maybe this actually is a nightmare?

Then Elizabeth pulls away, and I look at her and she's got those beautiful eyes looking back at me. The red and blue go so well together I can't begin to understand why anyone would judge her negatively for it. I wrap my arms tighter around her waist, the feeling of her isn't even close to the real thing, but I still want it. It's the best I can get right now.

The rain sounds like background noise. Almost like it's outside, but we're outside too so I don't really understand how it sounds so distant. Maybe it's my real hearing? That's when I'm suddenly in my room. Fuck did I wake myself up?

I sit up in nothing but my boxers. My eyes roaming around the room. The only light is from outside street lights. Which only highlight the rain outside. I groan as I stand up and go to the window. I need the cold air, I'm too hot right now. I open the window, but there's no cold air to greet me, and the sound of the rain doesn't change whatsoever. "Huh?"

I don't get a chance to figure out I'm still dreaming when hands wrap around my body from behind and my whole body feels like it's on fire. I feel lips against my neck again and I glance over to see that beautiful silver hair again. It takes me a second to realize that her body is pressed against my back, and I go red despite knowing this is a dream. The feeling may be dulled but it still feels like soft plump skin is rubbing against my back and I feel my boxers losing a battle right now. "Meliodas~" Oh fuck that's a distant voice but it sounds like hers still. Fuck this dream. Fuck this dream. Fuck this dream. I don't want to be dreaming this far into my relationship with Elizabeth. I want to experience it in reality. If we make it this far at least... No not if, when.

I feel the dream Elizabeth's hand sliding down my chest and I tense up insanely bad and with that I launch myself up in my bed. I let out heavy breaths as I collect myself back together. My boxers are still losing that battle, but this feels like reality this time. I let out a long and painful groan as I get up and go to the window, this time when I open it I'm bathed in cold air. It makes my hot body shiver intensly but I welcome it. The rain is still going hard outside but it's helpful in calming my nerves after that dream.

I don't know if I should appreciate that dream or worry about it. Merlin questioned me earlier about me being after her body... Is that really what I'm after? There's some distant thunder and I watch as the sky lights up. Seems to only be getting worse... "I wonder if Elizabeth still likes rain when it thunders...' I grab my phone off my desk, placing it by the window in a way that keeps it connected to the charger. Then I set it to record. I don't know how long I can record it for but I want to give it to Elizabeth. She's probably hearing just as much as I am sure, but I want her to keep this with her. A reminder of how close I am maybe, or something to remind her of the day we met... I don't know which is better but I want her to have it.

I stand by the window for a few minutes. It actually is very relaxing. Listening to the rain, the thunder. I can understand why Elizabeth likes it so much. It must be one of the few ways she has of staying calm in such a hectic life, especially now.

Just then a bolt of lightning strikes right outside my window and the crash of thunder is immediate and deafening. "Jesus fucking Christ!" I scream as I fall back on my ass. I glare out the window into the sky. "Fuck you too God!" I grumble. I should try and see if I can edit that bit out of the recording. I don't want Elizabeth to have a shock like I just did. Or to hear me cussing out God himself. I stand back up and look at the time on my phone. It's three in the morning. That's hardly enough time to fall back asleep and have a decent rest before school. I'm not about to stand around waiting five hours for the bus either.

I leave my phone on to record as much as it can. The longer the better... 'I know what that pause means and I'm a sick fuck for thinking that.' I crawl into bed after purging my brain of those thoughts as best I can. I'm still not comfortable in my boxers despite bathing myself in cold air and nearly having a heart attack from the lightning strike outside my damn window. I contemplate trying to dredge up the images of my dreams to relieve myself, but I quickly shake my head. That's not what I think of Elizabeth. I shouldn't be thinking like that... Not yet at least... Not until she wants to.

It takes all my willpower and the combined efforts of my brain not thinking about Elizabeth and my hands avoiding my erection as much as possible. 'I fucking hate this' I think to myself. I let out a low groan as I toss and turn in bed. Eventually, though I feel myself drifting back to sleep. My only hope is that I avoid that dream this time. At least for now.

* * *

When I wake up the rain is still going hard outside. I sigh as I stand up from bed. Luckily the dream didn't visit again, but I'm in some ways upset that it didn't. I look over at my phone and it seems to have stopped recording after about an hour and a half. Must have been a preset limit as I'm sure my storage could have handled more. Then I realize that there's a text waiting for me from Elizabeth.

I open it and read her words slowly. 'Sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to stay after school. Mom wants to get home quickly. She's worried that the rain might get worse later today.' I frown at this. I wanted to share the recording with her then. Evidently, I'll have to try something else. I message her back, 'You gonna be stuck at home after school? Maybe we can go out somewhere? Indoors obviously. Maybe dinner?' After it's sent I put my phone down on my desk and walk over to my wardrobe. I put on a black long sleeved shirt and black pants. For a second it doesn't feel right on me, which confuses me slightly considering I've had this style for years now, but I shrug it off and walk back to my phone. No response yet but I am not too surprised.

I walk out into the halls and it's silent. Evidently, I'm the first one out of bed, which means I get full access to the bathroom first. I walk into the bathroom and lock the door. Taking off the clothes I just put on I set them aside for after I've dried off. I turn on the shower and let it warm up while I brush my teeth. My mind though keeps on trying to wander back to the dream last night. I have to reign in the leash at least five times before I spit out the toothpaste.

When I step into the shower it's heat helps to wake me up immediately. Taking my mind away from the dream and going back to it finally. "I'm such a damn animal," I grumble to myself as I soak my hair.

"I coulda told you that much!" Zeldris calls from outside. I instinctively flip him off despite him not even being in any position to see it.

"Fuck off Zeldris." I call out to him.

"Hurry up Meliodas, or else I'm going to come in there and shower with you and you do not want that." I cringe at the idea in every possible way.

"You don't want that either." I retort, hurrying up does occur though as I wouldn't put him above such a thing.

"You're right, so hurry up or else we'll both be uncomfortable and angry." I hear him walk away from the door and I take his advice of hurrying up.

After a couple of minutes, I'm out of the bathroom and Zeldris pushes past me. I guess he arrived right after the water stopped. I shake my hair out viciously and what little water remains goes flying everywhere. My hair then wastes no time in popping back into its disorganized state.

I walk downstairs and I glance over at Merlin trying to fit herself into her over-sized coat. She looks less like a person in a coat and more like a plus size fuzzball. I open my mouth to offer her assistance and she glares at me dead in the eye. "Not a word or else you'll be drowning in a puddle." With that, I clap my jaw shut and walk to the kitchen. I grab some bread and set it into the toaster. Once it's on I walk to the fridge and start rummaging through the unhealthy amount of leftovers that Zeldris and I ordered the other day to find the butter.

"Next time I let you and Zeldris order food remind me to clarify, one day's worth of food, not enough rations for the apocalypse." I glance over as dad walks in and I tense up for some reason. It's very much a counter-productive response to seeing him, considering being tense and nervous is only going to draw his attention not lose it.

"We might have gone a bit overboard." I give as an innocent answer, despite that being the full intention behind it. I grab the butter and walk over to the toaster, watching the bread so I don't have to look at him.

"Doesn't matter. You'll be the ones stuck eating leftovers until it's gone. I'll be happily eating real food until that's all gone." In some ways, I think it was a bad idea at this point. Actually, it was just an outright bad idea looking back on it. Funny in the moment, painful and bothersome in the long run. "We'll be leaving as soon as school's over by the way. Storm's only supposed to get worse. I also have to get ready for a special event tonight. You two will be helping me with it." I glance over as Zeldris walks in with his hair in a towel, his face riddled with confusion on what he's suddenly been dragged into. I give him a shrug as the toaster pops and I put it back down to keep going.

I think Zeldris is about to inquire about what the event is but Merlin walks up behind him and speaks first. "Mr. Rex can you drive me to school too? The caretakers say he's still having his fit so I'd rather not go back there yet." Zeldris practically leaps out of the way when he hears her voice and he goes to get a whole loaf of bread from the cabinet. I quirk an eyebrow at him.

Dad just waves his hand as though that was his plan from the start. "Of course Merlin, I'd be happy to. And what did I tell you about calling me Mr. Rex? Call me Daemian." I roll my eyes. He's such a pain when it comes to Merlin. I'm pretty sure I've heard him tell her he wishes that he could have her as a daughter in place of his two sons. It would have been insulting if it came from anyone but him.

I hear her response of, "Mr. Rex is fine, thank you." But I'm not watching her, I watch Zeldris just taking slices of bread and eating them straight. I shake my head trying to make sure that my vision is straight when I look again. The toaster dings again and I push it back down.

"What on earth are you doing?" I ask him, I vaguely hear dad and Merlin still talking behind me but I'm more focused on Zeldris just eating bread slices straight out of the bag.

He just gives me a fucking shrug and keeps eating like it's normal. I shake my head again trying to confirm that I'm not actually still dreaming. I know my brother is a nutcase but I've never seen him just eating bread straight. The toaster dings for the third time, desperately trying to give me my toast before it becomes charcoal. I pick up the burned bread and quickly put both pieces on a plate. "Who are you to judge me when you're here eating basically coal."

My response is the same as his, a silent shrug. We shall agree to disagree for now. I spread the butter I retrieved on the two slices that might as well have been set on fire and then bring it back to the fridge.

"Do you need any money for lunch today?" I pick up my toast and bite into it. Tastes like burned ash with butter on it. Maybe I went a bit overboard. I actually wasn't aiming to have coal for breakfast. I was just so absent minded that I kept pushing the toast back down.

Zeldris speaks up to answer our dad. "No, I'll be fine for to-"

"I wasn't talking to you. I know you're fine." I thought it was obvious that he wasn't talking to us and I didn't even need to look at our dad to know that. I side glance Zeldris and his jaw is hanging open in the middle of saying something, I think his eye is twitching a bit. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I side glance our dad to make sure he's not paying any attention to me, which shockingly is what he's doing, and pull out my phone. 'Sorry, mom says that we have plans for dinner already. Something to do with work and she's taking me along. Maybe another time?' I frown at this. I'll probably have time to give it to her at lunch then. I just wanted to have more time with her, but I guess that's just not the case.

I feel a hand slap me on the back of the head and I wince. I glare over at Zeldris who snuck up on me while I was looking at my phone. He then leans in and whispers in my ear. "Don't look at your phone so gloomy or else dad will notice." I tense up, I didn't even realize that I was looking gloomy. I glance over at dad, and thankfully he's more focused on Merlin still than he is on Zeldris or me.

I look down at my phone and message her back. 'It's fine. I have something to give you at lunch. I hope you'll like it.' I send it and I forget that Zeldris is looking over my shoulder when I hear him snickering. I whip my head around and glare at him. He just holds up his hands innocently and walks back to his seat, still wearing a knowing smirk on his face that makes me want to just punch his lights out. What's annoying me most of all though is the fact he knows I want to do that and it only makes him more smug. I miss when it was just me teasing him about Gelda. But if I have to live with him teasing me to be with Elizabeth... It's tolerable.

* * *

Dad drives the three of us to school. The rain is hard and unrelenting, the thunder distant, unlike last night when it tried to kill me. Apparently, though we're only going to have more for the next day or two. Dad mentions that school might be canceled tomorrow because of the storm, saying the wind and rain might knock down some trees or cut power lines so they'll likely need to cancel. The thought of having to be away from Elizabeth for an extended time because of this storm grates against me in all the wrong ways. I don't want to have to be away from her long, let alone miss out on seeing her because of some damn rain.

Classes go by slowly. Elizabeth sits with me in every class, and I enjoy every moment as best I can with her. Mrs. Deus' precious little angels don't seem to have orders to take her away from me yet, so either dad is still cutting her off from them, or they don't actually expect Elizabeth to be the girl with me. Either way, I'm thankful. The longer she avoids them the better. That's probably just me being greedy, but I don't much care.

Classes hardly get to any kind of teaching, as everyone's just talking about how they should be dismissed early because of the rain. Unsurprising that they're trying to get out of school as early as possible by any means, even if it's over-exaggerating the weather.

Lunch rolls around and I walk Elizabeth to the stairs we sat at yesterday. She doesn't mind it at all, and as much as I don't want to have her sitting on dirty stairs, I much prefer that over her sitting with my friends. I haven't talked with any of them since the day Zeldris and I heard about Elizabeth. Only that encounter with Galand, and I doubt that he'll be keeping his mouth shut for long.

"Meliodas?" I snap out of my thoughts and look at Elizabeth confused as to why she sounds so worried. "Did you forget your lunch again?" I look down and I have no food, unlike Elizabeth.

I shake my head and open my bag. "No I do, just getting distracted is all." She nods lightly and I'm glad that Zeldris reminded me to pack something for lunch before we left this morning. If I had to leech off of her food again I would never stop beating myself up over it. "Oh!" I shake my head as I remember my gift. Elizabeth seems to jump though at my exclamation. "Sorry. I nearly forgot my gift for you." I pull my phone out of my pocket and Elizabeth tilts her head at me in confusion. I quickly pull out my texts with her and I hope that it will be able to take the recording. I send it to her and it starts uploading it. "I may have recorded the rain last night. I thought it would be a nice memento of our first date."

I reach my free hand up and rub at the back of my head. The more I think about it the cheesier it sounds. I'm the least dorky person I know and this feels like the dorkiest thing I could have done. I don't have time to dwell on that thought though when Elizabeth take my head in her hands and pulls me in to press our lips together. It's short, sweet, and leaves me craving more. "I love it." She whispers to me and I feel the breath of her words against my lips and it's rapidly sending me into a trance

I hear a whistle and my whole body tenses up. "So this is where you sneak off to. Not a bad hiding spot Mel." I snap away from Elizabeth's grip and glare at Zeldris. I'm about ready to snap his neck if it wouldn't be such an unpleasant thing for Elizabeth to witness. "You must be Elizabeth then?"

Elizabeth sets her food to the side on the stairs and stands up walking over to Zeldris with a smile on her face and I'm thoroughly confused. "Yes I am! You must be Zeldris! It's so nice to meet you!" I think Zeldris is in more shocked than I am as his mouth hangs open, unable to find words. He must have been planning to crash our get together, but now he's been dumbfounded into silence instead.

Then Zeldris and I both realize that she's holding her hand out for him to shake. I was too shocked by how casually she shrugged off our kiss being spotted. Zeldris slowly takes her hand and shakes it, clearly confused by the formality. "Pleasure's all mine?" He speaks as though it's a question, unsure how to respond to the sudden mood shift. "I just came to... Uh... Meet Meliodas' girlfriend. See if she was treating him right..." He's clearly lying and making shit up on the spot to try and seem like a good brother rather than the gremlin he really is.

Elizabeth chuckles sweetly at this though and smiles wide. "I hope I pass your expectations. I didn't know that he told you about me." I technically didn't though.

"He technically didn't actually." Excuse me? "I just figured it out on my own, I'm in some of your classes and I saw how he was with you... He likes you a lot, so as long as you make him happy I'm..." I think he's struggling to say happy right now, he's mouthing it out as though practicing the word. "Ha... Happy." I think he'd rather eat Merlin's cooking rather than say nice things about me. I share that sentiment in all honesty.

Elizabeth blushes when he mentions how happy she makes me, not seeming to want to believe it. She waves her hand with a smile. "Please. I'm sure that I'm not the first girl to make him happy." I haven't told her she's not just my first kiss, she's the first girl for me to date, period.

"Nah. You're special to him. Trust me on that." I look at Zeldris in shock for a moment, and he looks back at me with a small smile, but then he cringes and shakes his head. "Sorry I've gotta go now, if I'm too brotherly for an extended period of time I start throwing up." He flips me off as he walks away. "Remember we're leaving right after school dick head."

"Don't forget it yourself asshole." I call back to him, and I grin a bit. I'm pleasantly surprised at how Zeldris went from wanting to spoil our time together for fun to speaking highly of me to Elizabeth. I have to return the favor. Maybe I can crash his and Gelda's get together one day and pay him back for this. I glance at Elizabeth and she's blushing furiously red from what Zeldris said. I smirk playfully at her. "He wasn't lying you know. I told you that you're my first kiss... Well, you're also my first girlfriend." She looks at me in shock and I think she doesn't believe it for a second.

She looks down bashfully and holds her hands together in her lap, fiddling with her fingers. "You're my first boyfriend..." I blink a couple of times while processing this. I think I understand her surprise at me saying it now. Looking at her I can't understand who wouldn't want to date her. Or was she like me and just didn't have an interest? "Nobody was ever really interested in me, because of... You know." That's right, even though she hides it now everyone at her old school knew about her heterochromia already. Being the target of that bullying probably didn't leave much room for people to be interested in her, despite her flawlessness. Whether her eyes are differently colored or not I don't think it matters. She's perfect no matter who she is.

"You're beautiful Elizabeth." I scoot closer to her and take one of her hands in mine. She tenses as I say beautiful and looks at me, for a brief moment I see the red of her covered eye through her bangs and I feel my breath leave me for a moment. "No matter what. I'll say it now and again whenever you want. Even if you don't want it I won't stop saying it. It's a simple fact, and some people just couldn't get over that, so they made up a fake flaw to smudge the reality of your perfection." I feel like I might be going overboard for a moment, maybe a bit too poetic, but I feel her lean in and kiss me again all the same. I lean into it, wanting to prolong it as long as I can, but we pull away after only a few seconds. We're still at school, and if Zeldris proves anything it's that anyone could stumble on us as we are.

"I can't believe that... I'm your first is all..." She is maintaining her deep red complexion and I grin at my ability to almost turn her into a cherry. "Why me?"

I shake my head with a grin. "Didn't I just tell you why?" She blushed more at this and I wrap her in my arms and hold her against me. I feel her arms wrap around me in return and her face bury into the side of my neck. It brings a flash of my dream back to mind for a second and I have to bite my lip to suppress myself.

It's too short of a hold, but a hug is just as dangerous as kissing between us. I want to be able to be public with her. If it means danger just for me that's one thing, but I don't want Elizabeth to be in any kind of danger, especially not when it comes to my father. He'll use her against Mrs. Deus somehow, and I know Elizabeth wouldn't just be hurt by his plan, but also by the guilt of being an instrument against her own mother. I won't let either of them use her. Not if I can help it.

* * *

The rest of the classes for the day, instead of hoping for an early dismissal, is filled with people whining about the absence of an early dismissal. I find it annoying how people can find a way to complain about anything. It's insufferable. I feel like I forgot something that I planned to do, but all I can think of is giving Elizabeth her gift and she already has that. Luckily it fit and sent to her properly. She said that she'll use it in place of her usual rain app when she goes to bed. It makes my heart light in my chest. I'm helping her sleep at night. It's a bit of a perverted thought but I enjoy it all the same.

The day sadly ends eventually, and like dad said we're heading home immediately. I guess due to weather the staff isn't expected to stay late today. The drive is silent, though Zeldris gives me several smug grins when dad isn't looking and I flip him off every time. Merlin was able to go home as apparently, her father was back to relative normality again.

When we get home dad closes the door behind us and claps his hands together loudly. "Alright you two! Get ready, we have an important dinner to be hosting tonight, and I want you two to be as presentable as you can be. You should still have your suits and I don't expect to have to remind you how to put them on properly." Zeldris and I are looking at him wide eyed in confusion as he walks off to the kitchen. "Be ready in two hours or else you're going to be locked in your rooms for the rest of the storm with no food." I shake myself out of my confusion and run upstairs to take a shower before Zeldris can. I may hate my father but I don't plan to let him starve me anytime soon.

I'm quick to get mostly ready. I wait about an hour and a half before putting on the suit. It's tight, uncomfortable, and upper-class. I hate it in every single way possible, and I hope it knows that. The day I grow out of it, which I desperately hope I grow, period, is the day this thing gets thrown into a fireplace. When I step out of my room Zeldris does the same and I glance over at him, just as grouchy and uncomfortable as I am, so at least we're both suffering. At least neither of us are alone.

We walk downstairs and look around, the place is clean and set up for guests, but dad is nowhere to be seen. That is until he opens the door and walks in with several large bags. I don't even know when he left to get groceries or what place would be open in this weather but apparently, he found some store crazy enough to still be open right now. I'm shocked that we're even having guests with the weather. "Good you two are ready. We have another hour before the guests arrive, I wanted you to get ready early so that I could tell you if you failed to clean up properly, I'm pleasantly surprised that you're both decent." Zeldris and I blankly stare at our father as he walks off with the bags towards the kitchen.

"Shouldn't we have been informed about having guests this morning?" I ask, already knowing the response as it's the same response he always gives.

"I keep you as updated on things as you need to be." Evidently telling us at the last minute about things is keeping us updated. I sigh as I rub my temples and I think I hear Zeldris growling at my side. "You two wait patiently in the living room, I'll be preparing dinner as if I let either of you even in the same room as food being cooked then it will likely become poisonous." I actually can't fault him for that, because it's true for me at least. Zeldris not so much, he's decent with food, far better than me at least, but that's not saying much.

"Fine," Zeldris calls to him and he grabs my wrist and drags me into the living room, where we wait in complete discomfort for the hour to pass. It's silent, boring, and in every way annoying. I guess even if Elizabeth was available tonight I wouldn't have been. I guess I'm thankful that she had her own business going on, saves me from having to break the news to her that I'm actually busy myself.

What was advertised to be one hour of waiting turns out to be two, either misinformation from dad to give us false hope, or he's being stood up. "What do you think this is?" Zeldris asks me as he sits in the armchair dad usually sits in. His head is against the back, his eyes staring at the ceiling trying to find answers that God won't give him.

I listen to the thunder outside and shrug. "Could be anything. For all we know it could be a damn date." Zeldris scoffs at that and I grin smugly. Dad hasn't been interested in women since mom left, which was apparently not long after Zeldris was born. I never got to know her since I was one at the time. I don't really care too much about it though. The past is the past, if I can't remember it then it isn't that important.

"Probably just some work bullshit. Maybe we're hosting a dinner for the superintendent, would be nice to finally see who the hell he is." I just shrug at Zeldris, I don't have the answers and I'm not about to start speculating. We'll have an answer soon enough.

As if on cue the doorbell rings, and I stand begrudgingly. Zeldris does the same as dad calls out to us. "Stand by the door! Look presentable! I'll open the door!" I roll my eyes. He's so extra it hurts sometimes. I'm glad Zeldris is the one who got that trait and not me. Though he'd probably say the inverse and accuse me of being the one who's extra. He's wrong though.

We stand in front of the door side by side. It's not the first time we've had to be his little show dogs for work, be presentable and maybe do a trick or two. It doesn't change the tedium of it though. After a few seconds of standing still, dad walks out of the kitchen and rubs his hands together maniacally, which just makes me worry what he's planning.

He goes to the door and cracks his knuckles before taking the handle, speaking as he opens it. "So glad you could make it," I feel myself freeze up so intensely that I think my heart has stopped pumping. I feel Zeldris tensing up next to me, and I watch Elizabeth's eyes widen in shock, stunned into complete immobility. "Mrs. Deus!" My mind is blank. I can't think straight at the moment. The one thought that surfaces as rain pours loudly outside and thunder faintly echoes now and then is the simplest word my mind can come up with at this moment, 'Fuck.'


	5. Chapter 5: Rained In

**Thank you again to JacklynnFrost for her great help with betaing this fic! And thank you to everyone who's reviewed as well! I appreciate the time taken to tell me what you think of this fic, it's what keeps me writing!**

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Chapter 5: Rained In

"Mr. Rex." Mrs. Deus says in simple greeting. I'm hardly following her though. My eyes are locked on Elizabeth's. I don't understand any of what's going on anymore. Elizabeth's dinner plans that she mentioned were the same as my father's surprise work dinner. I'm not sure how I didn't put two and two together at the time, it seems so obvious now that she's standing right here in front of me. I think she's just as, if not more, shocked than I am.

I vaguely hear our parents talking to each other but it's not processing right now. My eyes roam down Elizabeth's dress of a simple white design. She looks like she's dressed for a dinner party with some kind of royalty. Her mother has an obsession with pristine white design because out of the corner of my eye I see a similar dress standing before my father. She always wears a white suit at school but now it's a white dress instead. My eyes can't leave Elizabeth to confirm fully though because I can't stop staring at her. Why is she here? Why is she dressed like that? Why was I not aware of any of this until now? Why does she have the most beautiful body I've ever seen?

"Meliodas!" I feel a hand slap me on the back of the head and I startle back to life. I look at an umbrella that's being held out to me and look up to see Mrs. Deus on the other end. I take it without question, as I might suffer brain damage if I get another hit like that. "Apologies Mrs. Deus, he's a bit hard of hearing sometimes." I take the umbrella over to the hanger and hook it over one of the arms. My eyes haven't left Elizabeth though.

Mrs. Deus seems to take notice of this fact. "Should see about blindfolding him. Should help him focus more on his hearing." I snap my eyes away finally and stare at the umbrella, because if I don't I'll just keep staring at Elizabeth.

"I'll look into that." I'd glare at my father if I could right now but it's either the umbrella or Elizabeth right now. "Dreadful that the weather had to be so bad though." I almost hear the smugness in his voice, and I'm confident he's got a smirk on his face to accompany it.

My mind is racing around in my head, trying to organize my thoughts. This is far more than I can process in such a short time. It doesn't help that the sight of Elizabeth in a dress keeps on trying to take over my thoughts. "Trust me, I tried to get the superintendent to postpone our 'bonding' dinner, but the man doesn't seem to quite understand the weather situation." I finally break my eyes away from the umbrella to look as Mrs. Deus and Elizabeth walk in. Elizabeth's eyes are on the floor, and it takes all of my willpower to keep from running to her and lifting her chin up so that she doesn't look so sad.

"Afraid of some water falling from the sky?" I glance at my dad, smug as ever, as he takes Mrs. Deus' coat off her, Zeldris doing the same for Elizabeth. I feel my body straining to its limits of control, and I see Zeldris glance at me and give an apologetic looks. It's not his fault, I know. But fuck, I am about to explode. I didn't even realize she had a jacket on, I was so focused on the dress.

Mrs. Deus gives a sarcastic laugh to my father before fixing her white gloves. The hell does she think this is? A ball? "No. Were I afraid I'd have told the superintendent that if he wanted us to bond so badly he can come back and do it himself." I look at Elizabeth as she looks at me and I realize she's wearing similar gloves. I had no clue that Mrs. Deus liked to play dress-up. I grit my teeth a bit as dad and Zeldris walk past me to put the jackets they both collected onto the hanger.

I feel Zeldris tap my foot with his and I glance at him. He mouths something at me but I can't read his lips. He evidently sees that by the confusion on my face and whispers instead. "Get a grip." It's faint enough that I just barely make it out, meaning I'm definitely the only one who heard it. It's a bit of stupid advice though. I'm trying to get a damn grip, I can't help the fact that I'm in shock right now.

"Zeldris, Meliodas," We both snap to attention. Dad is walking towards the kitchen with an all too smug grin. "Show our guests to the living room, dinner will be ready shortly." Zeldris nods in affirmation but I'm still struggling to move at all.

I watch Mrs. Deus shake her head heatedly. "No, no. I don't trust you with food whatsoever. I hardly trust you with children." She starts following after him towards the kitchen and he glances at her.

"I am a principal, it's my job to handle children too." He points out a fact we're all very sadly aware of.

"And we're all the worse for it. I'll be judging whether or not you have any handle over food." Once she's by dad's side she turns and looks at Elizabeth. "Don't interact with those two. Stay right there." I half expect Elizabeth to look at her as dumbfounded as Zeldris and I do, but instead she just nods her head abidingly.

Dad just chuckles in amusement and says, "I wish mine were that obedient." My hands ball into fists and I feel my nails digging into my skin. Arrogant bastard just can't pass up a chance to insult his own sons.

After our parents have gone into the kitchen and left the rest of us in the main hall I walk up to Elizabeth as though I'm approaching a fawn in the woods, her eyes on me. I'm half focusing on the rain outside to keep me grounded right now, so that I don't lose my mind. I pass a quick glance over to the kitchen, I faintly hear the two already arguing over something but I don't care, it's confirmation that they're not in eyesight.

I take Elizabeth's hand in mine and grip it lightly, she returns the gentle squeeze to reassure me. I'm not sure what to say, or even if I should say anything, in case our parents might hear me and burst back in to catch us in what they would feel is some kind of illegal act. For now I just grip her hand gently in mine, it's all I need really, her touch, soft and caring against my rough hand. If only the damn glove could stop being in the way.

I start to smile until I hear Zeldris cough behind me, making me wince a little. I turn and glare at him and he's looking off and around the hall as though he didn't just interrupt me. I suppose that was him making up for being nice earlier today. Elizabeth lets out a small chuckle and I feel my nerves instantly settling again. I don't know what this power she has over me is but I love it in every way. "Zeldris." He looks at me with an eyebrow cocked up. "Do you have any clue as to why the superintendent would want those two to be in a room together for any period of time longer than a minute?"

I'm struggling to understand the situation, but the superintendent, God knows where he is, clearly is making them do this, why is beyond me. It seems to be beyond Zeldris too because he gives me a shrug. "No idea. I'm tempted to run though because a fuse has been lit and it's only a matter of time before one of them explodes." I nod slowly, thinking to myself. It could just be a poorly timed event on the superintendent's part. I just don't understand why now of all times.

"It might have to do with me..." I whirl around to look at Elizabeth in confusion. She quickly explains, her eyes on the floor again and it kills me seeing her downcast like that. "I think that the superintendent heard about me moving back in with my mother, and popped some kind of surprise bonding activity on our parents. I heard mother arguing on the phone about it yesterday, before I..." She blushes a little as she glances at me and I know what she means. I'm stuck between feeling proud of making her flustered and worrying about this situation.

"There's the why at least." Zeldris adds behind me. I glance over at him, and he's crossed his arms in thought. "Now for the how we plan to survive with those two for an extended period of time." I know Zeldris means well but right now I'm panicked over them picking up on Elizabeth and I. Ironically the way I'm comforting that worry is by holding hands with her rather obviously in the middle of my house's main hall with our parents just a room away from us. I pass a worried glance towards the kitchen, hoping that they stay in there for as long as possible, it wouldn't be so bad if they murder each other in there I feel, at least then I wouldn't have to worry about them seeing me and Elizabeth anymore.

My thoughts are cut short as I feel a gentle touch circling on the back of my hand and my worries practically melt away in my mind. I turn to look at Elizabeth and she pets my hair down, only for it to pop back into disarray. "Even when you're being formal it won't stay down." I chuckle a bit at her petting my head, trying to keep my hair down.

"It runs in the family." Zeldris comments as he walks around us and down the hall towards the kitchen. I don't really care, it means he'll be a barrier against them coming back to find Elizabeth and I and that's all I care about.

"I wish I could have warned you... I had no idea that the dinner was with your father... Mother didn't-" I cut her off before she can take any more blame for something that isn't her fault. Gently pulling her down by the hand in my grip and stealing any more words that come out of her mouth by pressing mine to hers.

Thankfully she stops when our lips meet, I don't want her trying to apologize for something she can't possibly be blamed for. After a couple seconds of just letting our lips press together, probably the most tame kiss we've had, I pull away and smile at her. "Don't go apologizing, you couldn't have known." I smirk at her playfully and add in, "I'm the one who should be apologizing for staring." Her face turns red instantly and I feel my worries melting away.

Elizabeth leans down and pecks my lips and I grin against hers for the brief moment that they touch. "We just need to get through dinner, right? After that we'll be fine." I know it's just dinner, but with my dad and her mom in the same room, it's easy for hell to break loose over the smallest of things. Maybe that'll be a good thing. It might cut things short and dinner will end early over some petty argument.

I raise my free hand to her side, and gently run my hand down, feeling the curve of her body. She blushes a deeper and deeper red as I feel her idly. It's self-torture though because I can't go any further than that, I should hardly even be going this far but I can't help it. The things that I want to do are all out of the question considering circumstances right now. I slide my hand to the small of her back, continuing to cross boundaries despite where we are and pull her close to me, tilting my head up to meet her lips again. The feeling of her soft lips against mine is just too much to resist. I need to get it out of my system while we're alone or else I'll be a mess during dinner. Elizabeth probably feels the same way as I feel her kiss me back.

"This is my damn kitchen! Quit trying to take over you insufferable-"

"Finish that sentence! Insufferable what?" I blank as I hear our respective parents getting into some pointless argument that is louder than it ever has to be. I'm used to hearing this at school not my own home.

"Are they always like this?" Elizabeth chuckles out. It's sweet how she thinks that it's funny. The innocence of being new to this back and forth they have. I simply nod to answer her question and she shakes her head in disbelief as we part. I keep hold of her hand though, not wanting to let go just yet.

I glance towards the kitchen and see Zeldris poking around the corner, when I raise my eyebrow he whispers loud enough for us to hear. "Help me!" I shake my head no but Elizabeth is already walking over, thus dragging me with her. Once we're with Zeldris again I let go of her hand slowly, trying to prolong the touch as long as I can. "Those two can't get enough of arguing."

I squint at Zeldris in confusion. "Sorry but you have met them right? You're not new like Elizabeth you don't get an excuse." He glares at me and in an instant his hand is in front of my face and before I can process it he's flicked my forehead sharply and retracted his hand so I can't retaliate. Elizabeth just watches and giggles at the scene.

"I've known them about as long as you have, doesn't change how fucking annoying it is." I gasp at his swearing and he flips me off as a quick response. "I hope that Mrs. Deus gets frustrated and leaves early, no offense Elizabeth." Elizabeth just lets out an awkward chuckle in answer, scratching the side of her head nervously. "What's with the getup anyways? You two dressed like this is some kind of dinner date with the queen." While I didn't want to ask I certainly had the same question.

Elizabeth blushes and looks down, not the same as the other times, this time it's an embarrassed look instead of a shamed or sad look. "Mother wanted us to look our best. Saying that she wanted to show up the competition. I figured that when she said it she just meant impress other parents. Thinking about it now though I think she just wanted me to look better than you guys." I think about it for a second, and that certainly sounds like something Mrs. Deus would say.

"Dad probably had the same thing in mind." I look at Zeldris as I speak, seeing if he agrees with what I have to say. "We only put this penguin suits on when he wants to show off after all. He hardly cares when guests are over, half the time he just locks us in our rooms."

Zeldris nods a bit before adding in, "They're using this as an excuse to show off how much better their kids are than the other's. More of their damn power-plays." He holds his chin between his index finger and thumb. "Though I'm wondering where you got that dress on such short notice. I can't imagine Mrs. Deus had time to take you to get that. Is it a hand-me-down?" I glare at Zeldris a bit and this time I'm the one to flick him while he's not paying attention, except I do it much harder.

He's rubbing his forehead and grumbling when Elizabeth answers. "I actually had this with me..." Elizabeth blushes again and looks at me shyly, even though I'm not the one who asked it's like she's telling this to me more than she's telling Zeldris. "I went to a lot of parties and events when I lived with uncle Bartra. It was actually kind of fun going out to them because it was one of the few times I-" Elizabeth cuts herself off when she glances at Zeldris, remembering he's here before she goes too deep. "Well... I just liked dressing up." It doesn't take a genius to figure out what she was going to say. Thank goodness for that too because I'm no genius. I start to reach out to comfort her but stop myself, glancing towards the kitchen wearily.

Zeldris rolls his eyes and I glare at him. I know for a fact that he's just as bad with Gelda so he has no place to be judging me right now. Then the door to the kitchen flies open and our dad steps out, stopping in his tracks when he sees us already gathered together. All of us snapping to attention at the sound of the door opening. "Ah. You're all here. Good, dinner's ready."

"More like vaguely recovered from disaster." I faintly hear Mrs. Deus call from inside the kitchen. and I watch as dad grits and bares his teeth. We'll be lucky to survive the crossfire between these two, let alone the cooking.

I watch dad mouthing something and I'm pretty sure it's a whole array of curses that he wishes he could yell right now. "Whatever you want to call it." He says calmly, before whispering under his breath "Let's get this over with soon." He thinks nobody hears him, but I know him better than anyone, sadly. He turns and walks back into the kitchen, the three of us following him in.

The table, for once in a very long time, is set and ready for actual use. Filled plates are already set around the table. This will be the first time dad, Zeldris and I all eat together in an even longer time than this table has seen proper use. In all honesty I wish that it didn't have to see any use, no use is better than what it's about to have to bare witness to.

Mrs. Deus sets down the final plate at the head of the table and takes the seat there, while dad sits on the opposite end. Zeldris and I sit on either side of him, while Elizabeth sits next to her mom, on the same side as me. I glance over at her and she does the same with me before we both snap our attention to the food. It looks edible surprisingly. The only person who comes close to being as bad of a cook as Merlin and I is my dear dad. In some ways I'm glad that Mrs. Deus arrived when she did, otherwise we'd be doomed to food poisoning probably. "I'm going to avoid inquiring as to why there's a deadly amount of pizza stuffed in that fridge of yours, the answer might kill off my remaining brain cells."

"If you do ask, then ask my sons not me." I wince a little, preferring that Elizabeth not think I have some pizza obsession when it was just Zeldris and I trying to screw with our old man. I just put my head down and go about eating in silence, hoping that Elizabeth doesn't ask, or even hold it against me in silence.

"I said I was going to avoid asking, walking into your kitchen killed off enough of my brain as is." I hear dad growl a little and I inch my seat ever so slightly away from him. I glance up at Zeldris and he's trying to hide in his food like me. Thankfully it's not revolting, Mrs. Deus seems to have saved us from that much at least, instead though she might instigate dad into going nuclear.

"Oh!" I glance at our dear dad and he's standing from the table and pulling out his phone. "I had nearly forgotten that the superintendent wanted proof of us doing this dinner." He steps back a bit angling the phone to take a picture.

Mrs. Deus lets out a scoff as she stands. Oh boy. "As if I would entrust you with something as simple as a photo after displaying your ineptitude with cooking. I'll handle the photo." Mrs. Deus is also pulling out her phone and angling it to take a photo.

"You are so inexplicably petty that it baffles me. Just sit down and let me take the photo." I glance up at dad, and I can tell where this is going.

"I will not." Mrs. Deus states simply. They're both aiming their phones and almost simultaneously click it to take the picture. Both of them just took a photo of the three of us sitting at the dinner table torn between who to look at, and each other taking the same photo from across the table. They both sit back down wordlessly, glaring at each other the whole time. If this is any indication of how tonight is going to be then I hope that it's at least quick and painless.

Luckily everyone is silent after that. Focusing on eating the food in front of us instead of each other. Save for Elizabeth and I. I keep on stealing glances at her. She's even gentle with how she cuts her food, as though it might feel pain if she's too rough. It's absolutely adorable and I feel my heart flip in my chest thinking about it. The storm outside sounds like it's only getting worse, much like it was predicted to be. Thunder sounds like it's a war zone on our lawn and the rain is battering outside like it's a visitor desperate to get our attention.

The silence doesn't last forever though, as dad suddenly cries out, "Oh good lord you all must quiet down some, it's just too loud in here for me." I glance at him with the most done with his shit expression I can conjure up.

It's too late though, as he's started the wheels of motion up. Mrs. Deus glares at him from across the table. "Apologies. Was my breathing too obnoxious for you?"

Dad grins devilishly as he has an all too easy to predict response. "Yes actually. If you could cut it out I'd appreciate it very much." I sink back into my chair and Zeldris does the same. I glance at Elizabeth and her head is turning back and forth like she's watching a tennis match between these two.

"I'm sure that the superintendent gave you the same talking points that he gave me, or did you misplace them with your grade school insults manual?" Mrs. Deus is calm and collected with her responses, but I know it's only a matter of time before they start getting personal. It always happens.

"That's a splendid idea. I actually have one that I was hoping to bring up with you." He leans forward, hands making a steeple as he rests his elbows on the table, looking at Mrs. Deus quizzically. "Why did you keep your daughter's existence such a deep secret all these years?" I wince at that question because I know that's a can of worms that is going to lead to nothing but trouble.

"Funny." Mrs. Deus says still eerily calm. "I don't recall that being one of the talking points the superintendent provided."

Dad shrugs smugly and seems all too proud of himself. God he's such a conceited prick. "I may have ad-libbed that one. He did want us to better understand each other as mutual parents." I think this was his end goal from the start, get her to talk about Elizabeth, or Elizabeth to talk about her. He wants dirt on Mrs. Deus, like always.

Mrs. Deus gives a short grunt, seeming to find his response almost amusing. "I don't have any reason to answer that." I look at Elizabeth, who's still following the two's conversation like a tennis match, seemingly un-phased by the question at hand.

"Oh no, I think you do. I'd say you owe your own daughter at least that answered. If not why you handed her off to her uncle instead of raising her yourself." I feel my stomach turning, and not from the food. I glare at my old man, but he doesn't even seem to notice. His full focus is on Mrs. Deus right now and if I wanted I could take him by surprise right now. Zeldris would probably back me up, at least I hope he would. I'm sure Mrs. Deus wouldn't mind either. Probably even help cover it up. It's Elizabeth though that stays my hand. I don't want her to witness something so bad, she's too kind and caring, she doesn't even seem to care about the subject and comments that dad is putting forward.

Then Elizabeth makes the mistake that Zeldris and I had learned to never make around these two. "I don't really need answers to that..." Elizabeth's voice is practically a whisper, but it's enough. Speaking in any way when these two are going back and forth never ends well.

Mrs. Deus slams her fist down on the table and I think for a moment my heart has jumped out of my chest and fled the room. Even dad seems startled by the sudden action, not even thunder could take us by surprise like that did. "I think that's enough for today. We're leaving Elizabeth." She seems to still be calm, but it's the kind of calm that a serial killer has while they're stalking their prey. It's uneasy in every sense of the word and not in any way something you want to witness first hand.

"Leaving so soon? We didn't even get to desserts." Dad stands up as Mrs. Deus does, his smug grin still plastered on his face, and I think that's Mrs. Deus' tipping point.

"I couldn't care less about anything you have to offer you damnable monkey. I'd rather live off of the rain pouring outside right now than tolerate your apish behavior any longer." With that Mrs. Deus grabs Elizabeth by the arm and lifts her up, dragging her along as she leaves the kitchen, Elizabeth lets out a yelp, not the one I'm used to, one that's scared and hurt and I'm instantly at my feet, watching her get dragged out. There's a loud crash of lightning and it must have struck right next to us because I feel the ground shake under me. I follow dad as he follows Mrs. Deus into the main hall, already reaching the door, grabbing their coats and umbrella.

"Come now Mrs. Deus you're being far too hasty. I'd hate for-" Dad is cut off from speaking by a sharp and condescending cackle from Mrs. Deus.

"I couldn't care less what you have to hate Mr. Rex. We're leaving now. I hope you choke on your desserts and I never have to work with you again." She has her coat on and the door open, she's on the porch when I see her stop dead in her tracks suddenly. Elizabeth right behind her. I watch dad go to the doorway and freeze in place. It's like a line of statues and I get a very bad feeling from the sight. I slowly walk over to stand in the doorway with dad, and when I look out I get my answer for what made the ground shake just a minute ago.

A tree is collapsed right outside the driveway, covering the road completely. I hear Mrs. Deus let out a pained scoff, the type that you make when you're in such disbelief you can't help but laugh to cope with reality. "If there is a God who controls the universe... He has a cruel sense of humor." I glance over my shoulder to look at Zeldris and he's shaking his head.

"Well." Dad grits his teeth a bit. I can tell that he knows what social conventions dictate, but I know he'd much prefer letting Elizabeth and Mrs. Deus sleep in their car rather than invite them into his home for a night. "At least... Things can't get any worse." His words hiss through his teeth, and in spite of the words being shielded by his own mouth I think the universe takes that as a challenge and it's only a matter of time now before we get the worse. "Mrs. Deus. You have the option of staying in your own car for the night... Or..." I think he's struggling to process the words right now because he's mouthing the rest of it but not actually saying the offer.

I can tell that he isn't going to get the words out at this rate, and I sigh in disappointment. "We have a guest bedroom you two can use for the night." I glance at dad and he just nods painfully. I don't know if he appreciates me finishing what he couldn't get out but he at least isn't angry that I said it.

Mrs. Deus lets out more pained chuckles shaking her head. I think she's losing her mind, and I can't blame her, I've been living with my old man for eighteen years and I'm still baffled that I still have my sanity. She'll probably lose hers before morning. I glance at Elizabeth to see how she's reacting and she still just seems to be staring at the collapsed tree in shock. Lightning flashes and thunder strikes loudly and I watch as Mrs. Deus throws her hands up to the sky and screams. "I get it already! You made your point!" I think she's already lost her mind if she's screaming at the weather for being the weather.

* * *

I'm awkwardly sitting in the living room while dad shows Mrs. Deus and Elizabeth to the guest room. I don't know what kind of cruel joke the universe is trying to play on us right now but I'm not laughing. Zeldris is sat in dad's armchair again and he's watching me like I'm about to run off or something. It's not like I can do anything about this shitty situation we're in right now. I don't exactly have the strength of ten men to go outside and lift a damn tree out of the road. Though that would be pretty damn cool.

Neither of us say a word, both of us just sit in silence. There's nothing to say, and anything that we might talk about in our current circumstances would get us into major trouble if dad walks in at any moment. I glance over my shoulder into the hallway, wondering if I'll see Elizabeth again or if they're going to stay in the guest room until morning. I wouldn't be surprised if that's what her mom decides on. The less time Elizabeth is exposed to Zeldris and I the better in her eyes, I imagine. She sees it as protecting Elizabeth from us corrupting her, I see it as her keeping her sheltered and unaware of anything that would 'tarnish' her good nature. I don't think anything could tarnish her though, and Mrs. Deus most definitely doesn't even understand her good nature.

She probably just sees Elizabeth as a damn accessory. Something to be shown off to others to make herself look better. She's hardly had her back in her life and she already treats her like some kind of doll to show off. I won't be surprised if soon she tries to micro-manage every aspect of her life and our time together gets cut down to the bare minimum possible.

"Quit thinking about it." I look at Zeldris taken off guard a bit by his order. "I know what you're thinking dipshit and just thinking about it isn't going to help yourself or her, so just cut it out." Here I am getting relationship advice from my little brother. I'm torn between feeling proud and wanting to punch him in the face for butting in.

As I'm about to respond though I think the karma I was waiting to strike dad down when he said that things couldn't get worse has finally come around, as all the lights go out with a loud crash of thunder to boot. Without missing a beat I hear a loud and furious yell from the guest room. "Son of a fucking bitch!" That's definitely dad. I'm not sure if that was brought on by the power going out, or if he hurt himself as soon as the lights went out. Knowing him it was probably both. It's what the bastard gets for saying this couldn't get any worse.

After a minute he walks into the living room with a candle lit in a tray. "You have a phone why don't you just use the flashlight?" Zeldris makes a valid point, I have the same question.

"Phones don't last forever. We don't have power to charge them, you'll see their use soon enough when your phones die." I'm going to avoid informing him that we have rechargeable battery packs for long trips, and situations exactly like this. "Regardless you two should head to bed. The sooner everyone's asleep, the sooner we can be done with this absurd situation."

I raise an eyebrow at him and he doesn't respond, probably because that little candle doesn't actually provide much light. "I figured you would have loved this. Take it as a chance to get more of your precious dirt on Mrs. Deus."

To that he lets out a loud scoff and I roll my eyes. "I have my limits. That bitch tries my patience in more ways than one." I'm sure the feeling is mutual. "After dealing with her my options are alcohol or sleep and right now I don't trust being drunk stumbling around in the dark." It would be tragic if you tripped and bashed your skull in while nobody is awake. "You two should do the same."

With that he turns and walks out of the room. I watch the candlelight disappear from view and sigh exasperatedly. "You wish he had chosen alcohol too right?" I glance at Zeldris and I can't see it but I know he has a smug grin plastered on his face.

"It might have earned us at least some peace and quiet in the long run but I don't think anyone would survive dealing with that for even a minute." Zeldris chuckles lightly and then I hear him stand up.

"I'm gonna head to bed myself. Not because the old man said to, but because I want out of this penguin suit ASAP." I hear him already fiddling with his buttons as he walks around the couch and towards the stairs.

"You should focus your hands on holding a flashlight than fiddling with your buttons." I call out to him with a grin at my lips.

He lets out a mock laugh. "Worry about your own hands and what they're fiddling with." I'm thankful that the power's out because I feel a tinge of heat in my face from that one. The image that comes to mind instantly is Elizabeth and the thought of her sleeping just downstairs while I'm asleep is going to be harsh on my resolve. I was already dreaming about her last night, dammit, now I'm going to be worse off.

After a couple minutes of sitting around in the dark I decide to follow Zeldris' example and get out of this damn suit already. Except unlike him I'm going to actually use my flashlight because I'm not taking a risk of snapping my neck on the stairs when I trip on them. I pull out my phone, turn on the flashlight and make my way upstairs.

Once I'm in my room I shut the door behind me and toss my phone, flashlight still on, onto my bed. I'd like to imagine I'm quick with getting out of the penguin cosplay outfit, but it's more like a fight between me and the suit than anything. Eventually though it's off and I'm out of the tight mess that is that damn show dog outfit and in nothing but boxers, just the way it should be.

Then the thought of Elizabeth being in her underwear crosses my mind and I grin a bit at the thought. Then, as if Mrs. Deus herself interrupts my thoughts, the image is back in her dress. She's probably being forced to sleep in that damn thing so that she doesn't appear naked in this house. Who the hell would even see her in her underwear when she's being locked down with her mom anyways. It would be something Mrs. Deus does though, I wouldn't be surprised.

I yawn a bit as I walk over to my bed and pick up my phone, I use the flashlight to find the battery pack that dad seems to have forgotten about and hook it up on my desk before turning off the flashlight. With that done I feel my way over to my bed and crawl in. I lie down on top of the blankets, not really cold enough to need them. The rain is banging against my window like it's the damn FBI trying to get me to open up. I thought it was peaceful just last night, now it feels like the rain wants all of us to suffer. I rest my hands on the back of my head, between me and the pillow, and close my eyes, hoping for and against dreaming about Elizabeth. It's nice, but hot damn does it get me bothered.

A couple minutes pass and I'm almost asleep when I hear my door opening. I shoot up to sit straight, my hands on either side of me as I stare wide eyed into the dark. I recognize her shape. I didn't think I fell asleep yet. Did I? Fuck I didn't. Dammit I don't want her in here. 'Yes I do.' No! I'm naked right now! 'Even better!' Stop that!

As I'm having a back and forth in my head I realize Elizabeth is standing by my door, having closed it behind her and is just awkwardly standing by it now. "Sorry... I shouldn't..." I hear the softness in her voice and her immeasurable shyness and my heart just stops for a minute to appreciate that sound. Her sound.

"No." I say quickly, raising a hand and waving it around as though she could actually see it. "I'm just... Surprised." I'm sure my face is beat red right now and I'm appreciative of the dark, but Elizabeth probably isn't. I reach over to my desk and grab my phone, my finger almost contacts the flashlight button when I realize that I'm not under the covers. I contemplate for an instant turning it on anyways just to see her reaction but decide against it quickly and slip under the blanket before turning it on.

I set the phone back down, flashlight facing up, on my desk and look at Elizabeth, and my jaw goes slack. She's the deepest shade of red I've ever seen her, and not without reason. She's in her underwear standing by my door, and with the light on I think she turns even more red. "Fuck, I'm sorry!" I whisper shout as I grab my phone and quickly turn it off. It would have been a joke her seeing me nearly naked. Me seeing her though just feels wrong. She's too pure for that.

"I..." I look at Elizabeth in the pitch black dark again and she's shifting around nervously. "I wanted to... Spend some time alone... With you." She's slow and stutters her words, unsure of herself and it makes my heart go through a roller-coaster in my chest. She's so damn sweet and innocent.

I move over in my bed, and the thought alone of her being in bed with me is making my boxers feel tight. "Well... You have me all to yourself now." Our voices are hushed, even though I'm sure nobody's awake anymore to hear us. If she snuck up here without her mother knowing I'm sure we're at least somewhat safe.

I hear a small giggle from Elizabeth and it makes me smile a little. My heart is racing in my chest for all kinds of reasons. It takes her a bit, slowly navigating over towards my bed. It's agonizing watching her vague form move closer, trying to navigate from the flash of my room she got and touch alone. I feel her sit on the edge of my bed more than I see it, even though I was anticipating it, I still tense up. "Sorry about dinner... It could have gone better."

I shrug a bit. She apologizes more than she needs to, even for people who never plan to apologize themselves. "It's not your fault Elizabeth. It actually went kind of well all things considered. Nobody got stabbed at least." She lets out a short giggle and I smile wide knowing that I at least helped her cheer up a little. I lie back down, resting on my side so that I face her still. "You can lie down. It is a bed after all."

I know she's blushing. She blushes at everything, so this is probably keeping her an adorable constant red. I don't see her nod, and she doesn't say anything, but I feel the bed shift and watch her form lie down next to me. She's close. I can feel her breathing, the air leaving her lips and misting across my face. The sensations I'm feeling right now send a shiver up my spine and I think Elizabeth can tell because I feel her shiver too. I smirk playfully, despite the fact that she can't see it, and wrap an arm around her waist, which evokes a small squeak from her that makes me all the more sure of this.

I pull her gently against myself, just our chests, as I don't want to scare her off by pressing our whole near naked bodies together. "Meliodas." Her soft voice saying my name, the feel of her warm breath against my neck. Thank goodness my lower half is under the covers and hers isn't because I'd be going crazy right now if there were any more sensations going through my body right now.

I can't hold myself back very well in this situation, and I press my lips to where I feel her breath escaping, finding her lips with ease. I feel her lips open up already to let my tongue slip into her mouth and I groan a bit as my tongue meets hers. I feel her press against me, needy and wanting the kiss just as much as I do. I press against her, holding her waist firmly so that she doesn't move around too much. My tongue exploring every bit of her mouth like it's the first time it has ever been inside. Everything feels so much stronger than when we kissed like this before.

I feel her heart racing with mine, as though both are trying to see which will jump out of its chest faster. Elizabeth presses deeper into the kiss, wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me deeper into it. It is every kind of bliss that I could ask for.

Then I feel her swing one leg over to my other side and before I know it she's on top of me. "Fuck." I let out the curse in a breath but it still makes it out and Elizabeth's sudden assertiveness is frozen. I can barely make out the features of her face as she hovers over me, but it's all I need in this instance. I can tell my breathy word made her second guess herself, so I decide to encourage her.

I wrap both my arms around her waist and pull her against me, pressing my lips to hers before I start to trail my kisses along her jaw, and down to her neck. She lets out a gasp in my ear as my lips touch her neck and it makes my erection strain even worse in my boxers. Luckily she's just above it so she can't feel it, otherwise she might get too flustered to keep doing this. It's hard enough to keep quiet with just this much, if we were to get any more hot and bothered I'd probably lose the entire leash on myself.

She gasps lightly against my neck when I graze my teeth against her neck, testing my boundaries as far as they'll go. And fuck is it a satisfying feeling. She grips my shoulders tightly and her nails dig into my skin a little, but it's a nice pain, satisfying knowing that I made her so bothered. Then she cuts off my train of thought by doing the same to me. I feel her lips press against my neck and I tense at the feeling. I then feel her teeth gently scrape against my neck and I let out a groan against my will. I hold it back enough that only she'll hear it, but dammit if that's what I just did to her I should start keeping my boundary testing in check.

I pull her head back away from my neck and I press my lips against hers again. Her soft lips against mine is simply the best feeling, and it helps us keep quiet by letting our noises into each other instead of into the air. Then I feel her teeth against my bottom lip as she bites it gently. I'm thrown so far off guard I practically jump in my skin at the feeling. I look at her, and from what I can actually see she's blushing furiously red and her expression shy but also curious for my reaction. I hope she got what she wanted because damn that took me by surprise. Mostly because I didn't expect her to be the one to test boundaries like that. Sure she was assertive with getting on top of me, but she did that already at the park. This is different.

I press our lips together hard, trying to pay her back for that bite. Elizabeth is shockingly capable of being sexual, but I wonder if that's because of me. Is she just reacting to how I am? I don't know... I don't think I want to know. I just want to be in this moment with her. Just for as long as we have.

I slowly slide one of my hands to her side, feeling her soft skin under my rough hands. My other hand rubbing up and down the small of her back. My hand on her side begins to make its way up further. She shivers from my touch and I shiver too. After a slow crawl up, my hand finds her breast and gently I grip it in my hand. She lets out a squeak into my lips and I'm thankful for that, otherwise she would have let it out for way more ears to hear than just mine. I lightly massage her mound through her bra, and I take in her moans with my lips.

All of this is abruptly cut short when she suddenly rolls off of me and sits up on her knees next to me. Panting softly, and I hear my own quick pants too. I feel like I did something wrong instantly, to make her flee like that. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-" She cuts me off with her own apologies.

"I'm sorry. It wasn't you. I just." I sit up and take her shoulders firmly with my hands. Her eyes are downcast and my chest tightens in pain at the sight. "It's so much I just felt... So overwhelmed I-" I wrap her into a hug before she can continue. Holding her in my arms gently. The sound of rain and thunder registering in my mind again, reminding me of why she's even stuck here to begin with.

"No." I tell her in a soft whisper. I rub one hand lightly against the back of her head, comforting her as best I can. "Don't apologize. You do it enough as is Elizabeth. I should have been slower. I shouldn't be so careless. It's all just so new I didn't know where to stop." I feel her shaking her head, trying to deny my apologies but I keep going. "I've never felt interested in someone before. I've never felt any of this before. It's all so new I just don't know what's too much or where to stop myself." I press my lips against her shoulder, a half kiss, trying to comfort her even though I know she doesn't need it anymore.

I rub my hand lightly against the back of her neck. "I don't want to go too far. So anytime you start feeling overwhelmed please tell me... I don't ever want you feeling uncomfortable with me..." I pull my head away from her shoulder after a few seconds of silence and look at her, even in the dark, what few features I can make out are so beautiful it takes me away so easily.

I see a faint glimmer in her eyes and I feel my heart sink, thinking that she's upset for an instant before she uses her hands on the back of my head to pull me into another kiss. This one isn't nearly as heated as before. This time it's soft, slow, caring. It fills me with every bit of emotion though as everything we just did. I lean into her soft kisses and return the affection as best I can.

After I don't know how long she pulls away, cupping my head in her hands. "I can't feel uncomfortable as long as I'm with you." I don't know what I did to deserve her, I really don't. But I'm beyond thankful that I have her. We've hardly known each other let alone been together yet I feel so helpless at the idea of being without her. I don't know if she feels the same. I hope she does. I want her to feel the way I do about her.

I smile at her as I pull her to lie back down with me. I wrap my arms gently around her body, and she wraps her soft arms around me. We lie in my bed in silence, just enjoying the feeling of each other. I don't know how much time is passing, but eventually I feel her gentle kiss on my cheek and she whispers, "I should go now..." She seems to hesitate, wanting to say something, but struggling with the words. Eventually she just sighs out a light breath. "I'll see you tomorrow, Meliodas." I grin at her, but she doesn't see it in the pitch black dark of my room. She rolls out of my bed and I feel like it's so much emptier without her in it. I watch her form go to the door and open it. "Goodnight, Mel." I can hear the soft smile in her voice, and I feel my heart skip a beat.

"Goodnight, Ellie." She pauses at the shortening of her name and I know she's flustered by it. Then just like how she entered, she slips through my door and closes it behind her. I feel my heart sinking in my chest, wishing that she didn't have to leave, that we could stay together all night. Sleep in one and other's arms. But I know better than that. It doesn't stop me from wishing for it though.

* * *

It takes longer than I would like it to for me to get to sleep. I don't know if it's because I was still bothered after what Elizabeth and I did or if it was just insomnia making an unwelcome visit, though if I'm being honest it's probably the former. When I wake up the rain is still going strong outside, not as strong, but still enough to tell me nothing is going to get done just yet. The thunder seems to have passed at least. I let out a sigh as I stand up from my bed, stretching out as much as my body will let me. Maybe all the rain has swept the tree away enough for Mrs. Deus to abandon ship.

Sadly when I've gotten dressed and arrived downstairs that's not the case. Once I reach the bottom I immediately am greeted with yelling. "Would you stop trying to prepare food of any kind!" I wince at the loud noise of Mrs. Deus coming from the kitchen. Clearly I didn't wish hard enough for the tree to be swept away.

"I'm perfectly capable of toasting bread!" They argue like siblings and it's the most childish thing I've ever had the displeasure of needing to live with. The fact that I'm having to deal with it this early in the morning only makes it worse.

I hear Mrs. Deus let out a mocking scoff. "That's not toasted that's burned! I could get that same effect by throwing it into a fireplace." At least I'm not the only idiot who finds a way to burn toast. I decide breakfast isn't worth being in close proximity to those two and instead enter the living room, which Zeldris and Elizabeth are already occupying, Zeldris is in his phone, and by the small smile on his face I know he's talking with Gelda. Elizabeth, on the contrary, is covering her ears with both hands.

"How long have they been yelling back and forth?" I ask as I hop over the couch and sit next to Elizabeth, who's wearing her dress from yesterday again. I'm not sure if it's because dad hasn't offered her or her mother clothes, or her mother refuses to let either of them wear our clothes. It's probably a mixing of both.

Elizabeth shakes her head tiredly. "Don't ask." If Elizabeth is this done with it then it only goes to show how tiresome those two can be.

"It's better for all of us if we just avoid them as much as humanly possible." Zeldris adds, glancing up for a moment as he speaks before snapping back to texting Gelda. I hope I'm not as bad as him when I'm texting Elizabeth. It's just annoying.

I look over my shoulder as I hear more vague arguing from the kitchen. "At least tell me they're not preparing breakfast for everyone. Otherwise I'm sorry to let you guys know that we're eating lightly bread flavored charcoal instead of toast." Elizabeth giggles and I hear a faint amused grunt from Zeldris.

"Thankfully not." Zeldris answers. I turn back around and he's popping in earbuds to go into his own little world rather than actually socialize with Elizabeth and I.

It's not that I don't want to be left relatively alone with Elizabeth, but I can't exactly behave how I want to with her with present circumstances inhibiting me. "Your dad said that school is being canceled for the day, seeing as for one the two principals won't even be able to make it, and they're not the only ones, but the power outage hit the school too." I chuckle halfheartedly.

"Nothing to do with the fact that the rain has probably flooded the streets or anything like that. Everyone can walk through that to get to school I'm sure." Elizabeth lets out another giggle and I feel better every time I hear it. "Sorry that you're stuck here with us. I doubt it's how you would want to spend a day off."

She shakes her head at that and I squint in confusion. "Mother called someone and apparently they're on their way to pick us up. We'll be leaving in a little while."

I blink slowly, processing how suicidal someone would have to be to drive in this weather, and my first thought is to tell Elizabeth to not go, but I have to rein myself in. If they even make it here then they should be able to make it to her house easy enough. All that ends up leaving my mouth is a faint "Oh."

Elizabeth grins at that and lifts a hand to try petting my disorderly hair down once again. I think it's her way of comforting me without making it obvious how we really are. "Your hair is almost as chaotic as you are." I give her a wry grin and she smiles back.

We talk for a while, Elizabeth and I, sometimes laughing at the stupid things that our parents yell in the kitchen. But like Elizabeth said a car horn goes off all too soon outside. We distance ourselves immediately, her mom coming out of the kitchen with the sound of her rescuer. "Finally." She says exasperatedly. I roll my eyes at how dramatic she is, though dealing with my dad is tiring work, even for me.

"I'm so sad to see you going so soon. I hope you crash on your way home and you're the only casualty." I glare at my dad a bit, that kind of threat puts Elizabeth in danger by association so I'm against it with all of my being. He doesn't see it though and just accompanies Mrs. Deus to the door.

Elizabeth stands up and follows after her mom who seems to nearly forget her, grabbing her coat and umbrellas off the hanger. Mrs. Deus already has hers on and is out the door, not even indulging dad with a response. I get up and walk after her to see them off. Well, Elizabeth off, her mom by proximity. My dear old man doesn't even go all the way to the door, waving it off halfway and instead walking into the living room.

I stand at the door as they walk down the driveway through the rain, and when I look at the car that's here to pick them up my eye twitches. All my work to keep her away from those two up in smoke now. I can see Ludociel in the driver's seat, waving merrily at Mrs. Deus, the kiss up, and in the back, Mael. I grit my teeth and keep myself grounded where I am as I watch Mrs. Deus get in the passenger seat while Elizabeth is forced to sit next to that prick in the back. I watch as the car turns around on the road, I should have known that those two would be the suicidal bastards willing to drive in this weather to get Mrs. Deus.

Before long the car is out of sight and I'm still standing in the door glaring where the car went. "Meliodas! Inside or outside pick already!" I wince at my name getting yelled, snapping back to reality I step back inside and slam the door shut. I pull out my phone and quickly text Elizabeth.

'Be careful with those two, they're your mother's biggest ass kissers.' I hover my finger over send, thinking in silence for a moment if I really want to be petty. I know she's with me, I know she's not going to abandon me just because she meets her mom's precious little ass kissers. But I still want her to be aware of them. It takes another minute of just looking at the message before I just say fuck it, and click send. She should know how they really are, not some fake bullshit that they try and put up.

I walk into the living room and I see that Zeldris has been kicked out of dad's armchair and is now sitting at the end of the couch, continuing to text back and forth with Gelda, I'm confident in that now since he's obviously keeping his screen out of dad's eyesight in spite of the fact that the old man isn't even looking at him. "Meliodas can you go turn the generator off? Unless you plan to make yourself breakfast, then if you do turn it off afterwards." I nod in empty acknowledgement of his request.

The generator is only for cooking food when the power goes out. Dad sees it as a waste of money just to have it going for keeping the lights on or anything else for that matter. When I enter the kitchen I glance around, nothing seems broken thankfully. I was worried when I heard them yelling that at any moment they'd start using breakable objects as outlets for their anger management.

I open a cabinet, grab a loaf of bread, and walk over to the toaster. I can't be bothered to retrieve the butter this morning so it's just dry food for me today. Once I pop the bread into the toaster and set it down my phone buzzes in my pocket. I lean my back against the counter and quickly pull it out, hoping that it's from Elizabeth, only to see that it's the group chat with my friends. I sigh as my excitement quickly deflates, but I open it anyways. Scrolling through it seems that everyone's just been talking about how bad the storm is. I see Zeldris took the liberty of informing them about the dinner and everyone's laughing and making jokes about how awful it must have been. Which it was.

'Sounds awful.' Reads a message from Derreiri. Which is quickly followed by Monspeet messaging, 'You mean that sounds like the worst possible dinner party in history and that you would rather be starved for a week than even attend a dinner party with those two present. Right?' It doesn't take very long for her response of 'mhm.'

Those two are just such a weird couple but they work together. Most of the time. I'm thankful that Galand doesn't seem to bring up anything even regarding what he saw the day I was showing Elizabeth around. So long as he keeps that silence and forgets what he saw, and felt, everything should be fine. I shut off the screen and stuff my phone back in my pocket as the toaster dings and pops the toast into the air.

I turn and swipe up my breakfast and put it on a napkin before I walk out of the kitchen and into the garage. The generator is humming dutifully as I approach it and when I flick it off the hum slowly dies. I bite into the toast and crunch on it as I look around. The rain sounds even louder in here than anywhere else, even when I'm outside it isn't as loud as it is in here.

I feel my phone buzz and I pull it out, this time it's from Elizabeth and I'm thankful for that. 'I'll keep it in mind. Talk more when I get home and into something more comfortable.' I grin a bit at the screen, the image of her in her underwear flashing through my head for a second before I shake it off.

Before I can send her a reply I hear something vibrate by the door back into the house. I squint as I see a phone just resting on a shelf by the door. It's confusing as I don't understand why it would even here. When I approach it though I see that there's a text on the screen. 'Merlin...' Oh. It's Merlin's phone, she must have forgotten it and dad just put it here for safekeeping until she comes to get it or something.

I look down at my phone to text Elizabeth back when I hear Merlin's phone vibrate again. Normally I wouldn't peep Merlin's text conversations, but curiosity gets the better of me and I look over to see what it says. When I see it though my grip on my phone tightens and I feel my chest tightening as well, the only thing that doesn't tighten is my grip on my toast, which falls out of my hand, napkin and all.

'...How do you know you love someone?'


	6. Chapter 6: Motherly Neglect

**Thank you to JacklynnFrost for her help betaing as always! Also thank you to the review from Marichat4ever that gave me the idea for this chapter! And thank you to everyone else that takes the time to read and review this fic! Even those of you who just take the time to read this, thank you a bunch!**

* * *

Chapter 6: Motherly Neglect

I look at my phone for a few moments longer. Rereading the text I've sent Merlin. 'How do you know you love someone?' It feels a bit stupid asking someone younger than me this question. But Merlin is smart, I'm confident that she'll have an answer. I click the screen off, setting it on my lap and look out the car window. The rain is calming down, but it's not quite gone yet. I hear voices around me but I'm not paying attention.

Meliodas warned me to be careful with the two here, but I don't really understand what that means. Does he not want me to socialize with them at all? He mentioned them being my mother's 'biggest ass kissers,' but I'm unsure why that's a reason to stay away from them. They seem nice, coming out in the rain to help my mother and I get home. Though I'm not sure how she's planning to get her own car back once the tree is cleared, or how she'll know. From what I saw last night between Meliodas' father and my mother, I don't think that he'll be so kind as to let her know when it's out of the way.

I rest the side of my head against the window. It's not a long drive at least, so I won't be stuck in this dress for too much longer. I like the dress, but being stuck in it as my only form of clothing makes me despise it. At least I could take it off last night for some reprieve.

Then the memory of last night plays to laying in bed with Meliodas and I flush in an instant. I was upset that I couldn't have more time with him to ourselves, so I thought sneaking to his room would help with the butterflies, but instead it feels like only more got added and they stir any time I think of him. I still feel so embarrassed about him seeing me in my underwear when he turned on his flashlight. I know he was trying to help, and I appreciate it, otherwise, I wouldn't have had any clue where I was going, but-

"Elizabeth." I'm cut off from my thoughts by my mother's voice and I straighten. She's running her fingers through her hair, untangling the long locks. "Allow me to properly introduce you." She gestures to the driver. "This is Ludociel. A top of his class student, and close to being the best, if not for a couple of choice know-it-alls." I think of Merlin for an instant, but then remember she's not in our year, so she's probably not referring to her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Elizabeth," Ludociel speaks without looking at me, not even in the rear-view mirror. His eyes, which almost seem to be shut, are focused on the road. I didn't realize that his eyes are nearly shut until now. I'm starting to understand why Meliodas warned me about this one at least, I'm rapidly becoming worried about a car crash. How can he see anything like that?

I smile warmly, and bow my head a bit to him, even though I'm pretty sure he'll see none of it. "It's nice to-"

"This," I'm cut off again, this time openly, as my mother gestures to the man next to me. "Is Mael. He is a star in nearly every sports team, and if there weren't others that try to steal the spotlight, he could be a one man act." I look to Mael and he's definitely built to be a sports guy. He's got some facial hair, though nothing full.

He lets out a small chuckle, waving his hand dismissively. "Mrs. Deus it's not as though the others are lesser, they all have plenty of skill." I smile a bit, he seems humble enough. I'm not entirely sure on what Meliodas is worried about with him.

"Please." Mother almost hisses out. "That Escanor in particular practically acts like he is the spotlight." I quirk an eyebrow. I didn't realize that my mother would care for any sports teams at the school. I didn't gather that it would be something she would give any focus towards. "And that damnable Galand that Damian wastes so much attention on." That explains it. It's like another battleground for her.

Mael scratches the back of his head nervously for a moment, as though he's wanting to say something yet he doesn't want to speak against her. "Escanor isn't that bad off the field. He just gets into the game is all." I watch my mother finally turn her head to look at Mael, and I don't see the look she gives him but he snaps his mouth shut and turns to me before opening it against. "It's nice to meet you Elizabeth."

I look at him and he's avoiding eye contact. It's not a surprise. Everyone does that. It's like they don't know if it's alright to look at the one eye that I show. I'll admit it results in some pretty bad depth perception, keeping one eye closed all the time on top of keeping my hair over it. The hair is just so that people don't ask why I keep my eye closed. Wearing hair over an eye is more reasonable than constantly keeping one eye closed after all. "It's nice to meet you too." I say with a small smile, and he smiles back.

After a moment of awkward silence, I turn and go back to looking out the window and listening to the rain pattering against the window. "Thank you two again for saving me from that hellish situation." I listen to my mother in the background. I don't care too much about what's going on around me. I'm still trying to sort out how I'm feeling.

"Like I said Mrs. Deus, it's not a problem." Ludociel responds. I'm not sure what my feelings are for Meliodas. They're intense and I want to be with him. I know that much. Yet I feel anxious and the butterflies start having parties in my stomach whenever I'm with him. I feel like I'm about to do a presentation whenever I'm with him like my chest is about to burst and I'm not sure if it's in a bad way like in a presentation or a good new way.

I'm hopeful that Merlin is up and will answer my text soon. At least telling me that she has no clue would be better than being left with nothing for hours. I need to communicate these feelings somehow, and I feel like if I do it with Meliodas then I'll just end up scaring him off. I'm just surprised that he didn't when he saw me nearly naked. He turned off the light fast enough. "How did dinner go at least?" I think that's Mael asking the question.

Did he not like the sight? Or did he just want to be respectful? I know I would have turned off the light out of respect, but I'm not sure if I wanted the light turned off. I couldn't see Meliodas that well in the dark... But I certainly felt him. He was so warm it still makes me flush. I've never been intimate with someone, so last night was a lot of exploring my curiosities. "Could not have been worse." I wish I could have had more time with him.

I wonder if we'll get any more nights together. I doubt that we could ever spend time together at either of our parents' house. I'm not a sneaky person. There has to be some way for us to have privacy for at least a day. "You were having dinner with the Rex family, that's like signing up to eat poison with snakes." Maybe there's a school trip? I remember at my old school that senior trip was a week long trip for the whole class, I just can't remember where, not that it matters now.

I'm sure I can talk my mother into doing a trip like that for us if something hasn't already been planned. She'll know, and if she doesn't then I'm sure Meliodas can ask his father. One of us has to be able to find something out about the senior trip. "I don't get what was going through the superintendent's head when he gave you two that task."

Though I shouldn't be getting my hopes up, it might already be planned out and I'm the only one who doesn't know about it since I just got here. "The worst part was his little gremlins." Maybe we can find a mutual friend and stay over with them. Though I don't want to make a friend feel like we're using them just so Meliodas and I can be alone together. I'd feel awful doing that to a friend. "Especially Meliodas." I snap to attention at Meliodas' name and realize I must have not been paying attention.

Ludociel lets out a sharp scoff. "When isn't that imp doing something wrong?" I feel my face heating up as they talk about him. They shouldn't have any clue about him and I being together, but I don't feel easy even hearing this.

"Usually it's at least vaguely tolerable. Though last night at dinner I don't think he realized I was fully aware of how much he was looking at my daughter." I tense up. Did he really look at me that much? "Beady eyed little demon almost never took his eyes off her and was entirely shameless about it." I feel myself getting red in the face. I didn't realize that he was looking at me at all during dinner. Should I have been looking back? Not if she was keeping an eye on us, which she clearly did.

I hear Mael shiver audibly. Glancing over he's shaking his head. "I'm sorry both of you had to suffer that pint-sized trouble-maker for a whole night. I know I wouldn't survive that special hell." At his words I start to lose the respect that I had just gained for him. Meliodas isn't a trouble-maker... Not that I would know him that well... How well do I know him, really?

My mother lets out a long sigh and shakes her head. "It's over now and that's all I care about." I slink back in my seat and hope that Merlin will give me a response soon. I shouldn't try involving her, she has enough to deal with as is. Dragging her into my personal issues is just unnecessary stress I'd be adding for her. I can't exactly take back the text though.

"Hey Elizabeth," I look up and turn to Mael, he's avoiding eye contact again. "How have your classes been?" I idly reach my hand up and pet my bang down to make sure that it's still in place.

I give a light shrug in response, not sure what to say. "It's been fine. The teachers are nice, I've not really met many other students though." Not that I really care that much for it. It's senior year, I doubt that there will be many groups open to new additions at this point.

"Ludociel and I would be happy to introduce you to our friends." I clearly shouldn't have mentioned it. "We'd be happy to have you." I flush red. I really wasn't looking for pity friends. I am fine with just having Meliodas. He's all I need. Sure making more friends would be nice, but I'm not confident on befriending these two or anyone they are friends with. It might just be Meliodas' warning but they just feel off to begin with.

I raise my hands defensively and shake my head from side to side. "That's not necessary, I wouldn't want to bother any of you." I feel the air shift slightly and I tense, glancing to my mother who's glaring over her shoulder.

"Elizabeth, don't push aside other people's generosity. It's rude." I feel my whole body tightening. It's true... I'm probably being rude rejecting his offer to introduce me to his friends. Meliodas, if anything, seemed to want to keep me away from his. Maybe it won't be so bad.

Ludociel chuckles and waves a hand dismissively. Please stop doing things that make me worry for my life. His eyes being nearly closed while driving is enough to give me a panic attack. "It's no harm Mrs. Deus. She's just nervous, this is a new school after all, she's probably just anxious about meeting new people." I don't really appreciate the psychoanalysis but I don't say anything with my mother's gaze so harsh on me.

Mael shakes his head and crosses his arms as he sits back. I don't think he appreciated it much either. After a moment my mother faces forward again. "Please do introduce her to the others, and show her around a bit. I'm sure that blonde haired gremlin was useless in showing her around." I look down at my phone in my lap, biting the corner of my lip. I don't understand why they're talking so lowly of Meliodas. He's been nothing but kind to me. Am I missing something?

I go back to silently ignoring the world around me, letting them talk among themselves. It's not long before the car stops and I know we're home. I unbuckle and open the door, eager to get out of the uncomfortable dress and finally be free. My mother is already out by the time I've stepped out and opened my umbrella. "Thanks to both of you again for saving us." It was more saving you. "We'll see you both when school starts again after this rain leaves."

I look around at the rain. It's definitely calmed down since we left. I can only hear it because the umbrella amplifies the sound of it falling. "No problem at all Mrs. Deus, it was nice meeting you Elizabeth." Ludociel smiles but it's discomforting so I look at Mael, who's waving his goodbye.

I nod slightly as my goodbye before closing the door and walking up the driveway to the house. My mother stays behind talking to them a bit longer but I don't really care, I want to get inside. I'm holding my phone up and looking at the home screen, hoping to have some kind of response by now. Still there's nothing there though. I click it off when I am outside the door and as I reach for the handle the door swings open from inside. "Young Ms. Deus." The well dressed man bows his head to me and I freeze up. I keep forgetting mother has a butler. I hardly know why or how but it's the strangest thing to get used to moving in with her.

"Please," I stumble out with a nervous smile, "I told you just call me Elizabeth." The man nods his head before stepping aside to let me in. I'm not sure why mother didn't call him to pick her up instead of two students but if I had to guess it was so that she can introduce me to them. I step inside and I'm once more greeted with the open space that is the main hall. The most decorated place in this whole house. Paintings, pictures, decor, all kinds of filler, but anywhere else in the house you'd think you just entered a different home entirely because everywhere else is devoid of any decorations.

I walk up the stairs, going towards my room. I need to get out of this dress before it kills me. I hear my mother speaking not far behind now. "Ah, Theo, lovely, where are Jenna and Zaneri? I have some work for them." I almost forgot about the maids.

I get into my room and shut the door behind me, already starting to maneuver out of the dress. In moments I'm naked and walk into the personal bathroom, another oddity that I'm still getting adjusted to. I turn the shower on and once it's gotten hot, I step in. I'm quick in washing myself and my hair. It's refreshing after waking up this morning and being forbidden from using their shower, not by Mr. Rex but by my mother. It's as though using any of their amenities would be a cardinal sin.

My mind wanders as I finish cleaning myself, and I just sit down with the water still running and rest my head against the wall, letting the water fall on me. I can't help but wonder how much I know about Meliodas, after all, we only just met a couple of days ago. I don't understand how I'm feeling, I hardly understand any of what's going on the past few days. This time last week I was happy with uncle Bartra, content with my day to day. Now I'm suddenly living with my mother as though she didn't hand me off over a decade ago and met a guy who makes me feel nervous and flustered whenever I'm around him.

The water is starting to feel less and less warm the longer I sit in it so I stand up and turn it off. When I step out I go to the mirror and look at myself, the hair over my right eye clinging to it. I move it out of the way and open it to look at myself properly. I can't help but look at the red. It just doesn't feel right. I know Meliodas told me that it doesn't matter, that I shouldn't let people get to me over it. Even so, it presses me in all the wrong ways.

As I dry myself off I think about looking into colored contact lenses. Maybe I could find one that matches my regular eye. It would save me having to deal with being half blind. Bartra advised against it, saying that I shouldn't change myself for the liking of others. He would only allow my to cover it up, nothing more.

Once I'm dry I fix my hair over my right eye again, before walking out and to my closet. I unpacked all my clothes when I got here, the only things left at Bartra's are some personal belongings. I put on some underwear before grabbing a blouse, shorts and skirt.

Once I'm dressed I pick up my phone from my desk, well rather, the desk that was here when I got here. It's probably older than me if I had to make a guess. I look to see if Merlin has responded, but it seems that she hasn't even opened the message. I think about messaging her again, maybe she just didn't get the alert. I shake my head a bit, deciding against it.

I stuff my phone into my pocket and walk out of my room, and down the stairs. "Thank you three for taking care of things while I was gone longer than expected." I hear my mother in the living room with the maids and Theo I guess. I turn the other way and walk towards the library. Among the many shocks from moving in here is the fact that she has a whole room filled with books.

I open the door to the room and the ceiling is high, as are the many shelves holding up rows of books. I shiver a little, thinking of the nightmare it must be for the poor maids organizing this room. That is if mother actually uses it. I stroll along one of the shelves, looking at the bindings of the various books and reading their titles. There's a scary number of encyclopedias to choose from and it makes me worry the easiest read I'll find is a dictionary.

After a bit of searching, I find a novel that isn't just a bunch of definitions and take it out without hesitation. The fun will be finding out what I'm about to read, not knowing what it is when I get into it. I sit down at the desk in the middle of the room and open to the first page but before I can even read the first word I jump as the door swings open.

My mother is the one entering and she passes a glance at me. "Ah, Elizabeth. I didn't expect to find you in here." She lets the door drift shut behind her as she walks to the shelves and glides her finger over the bindings.

"Am I not allowed in here?" I ask shyly. She didn't say I couldn't be in here, so it's a bit strange that she's saying she didn't expect to find me here.

The question turns out to be a stupid one since she looks at me with a quirked eyebrow. "I never said you couldn't so why would you not be?" I flush red and shrug. I watch her roll her eyes before pointing at me and I tense under the gesture. "What's with your hair?"

I reach up and pet my bangs down, covering my eye further. "It's just how I wear it..." I watch her roll her eyes again and I just feel like an even bigger idiot for some reason.

"You wear it to hide your little deficiency. Sorry to break it to you dear but I'm the one who gave birth to you, you don't exactly have any defects you can hide from me." I flush an even deeper red and set down the book I grabbed onto the desk.

She walks over after pulling out an encyclopedia and drops it on the other side of the desk. She reaches over and pushes the hair out of the way harshly, only to see the eye closed regardless. "Oh come on." She sighs in clear annoyance. I wince at her voice and slowly open my eye. It makes me almost as red as the eye itself when she claps as though congratulating me, I can almost taste the sarcasm in the air. "Why do you even try hiding it."

I'm pretty sure I've explained it to her already, she's just forgotten or wasn't actually paying attention last time. "It's just an insecurity." I answer simply. I don't really want to get into it, because I don't want to have to explain the full thing multiple times because she doesn't actually listen.

That answer doesn't suffice for her though as she says, "If it were 'just an insecurity,' you wouldn't base your whole appearance around it." I don't think I base my whole appearance around it...

I shrug lightly as I look down, not really fond of looking up at her while talking about this. "I don't like people seeing it... They stare and judge me on it. Call me a freak." I look up for a moment and her hand is pressed to her face in clear irritation. I turn my head down again. Clearly answering this question in any way is going to result in negative reactions.

"If you don't want people seeing it then just wear an eye-patch rather than covering it with your hair like some goth." I bite the corner of my lip trying to push past what she just said about my style being goth. I don't even remember the last time I heard someone being called goth.

I look up at her as I tell her, "Wearing an eye-patch would just draw more attention to it." She gives me a confused look and I return the confusion, not understanding what's confusing about it.

"I thought the point of covering it up was to get attention." She walks around the desk to go to the other side and picks up her encyclopedia. My mouth hanging open slightly in shock at what she just said. I have to blink a few times to wake up from the initial surprise at her response.

She sits down across from me as though she didn't just accuse me of covering up my eye to get attention. "I... No... I don't cover... I don't cover my eye to get attention!" I'm so stumped by her comment that it takes me several stutters just to tell her that it's not the case by any means.

She shrugs. "You do whatever you want, so long as it doesn't make me look bad, it's of little importance." I flush red, from a mix of frustration and embarrassment at her words. "Do you think I've ever cared about what others think of me?" I raise an eyebrow at her and she looks up from the encyclopedia to see my confusion. She adds on by saying "I only care about what I think of myself. If I gave even a passing thought to others having an opinion of me it would let them influence me. So the best answer is to simply not care about anyone but myself."

I blink a couple of times processing her words. Sure I get the idea behind only letting your opinion of yourself matter to you, that's the one thing she says that isn't outrageous. "So even if someone in your family were to look at you negatively or even positively, you don't care?"

She actually chuckles at the question and I puff my cheeks trying to keep from sighing in aggravation. "Of course I don't care." I feel my train of thought derail and go over a cliff in sheer shock at her simplicity in answering, as though it was the obvious answer. She sets the encyclopedia down on the desk and stands up. "Follow." I set my book down before me and stand as she walks out.

She leads me out and into the main hall, gesturing to all the pictures that before I had just seen as being pictures of people. Looking closer now though, I realize that they're all of her, and beneath every one is an engraving of what the reason for the picture was. "All of these are your mother's achievements in life. From graduating valedictorian to receiving teaching excellence awards."

I look at them as she wants me to, but I don't understand why, why she wants me to do it and why she even keeps them. I hadn't realized how self-interested she was until now.

It takes a bit of looking but eventually I find one of her in the hospital. She's in a bed holding a baby. My guess is that it's me. When I read the engraving though it doesn't say anything about me, all it reads is 'Gave birth naturally.' When I look back up at the picture and inspect it more closely, I can see she's holding me more like a trophy than a baby. I don't know how a loving mother should hold their child, but everything about the picture just feels careless.

"Ah, you found yourself." I look over my shoulder at my mother as she walks over. "Yes, it took a lot of time and suffering for that achievement." I feel my heart tense as I think for a moment she's about to say something caring, but what comes out of her mouth is anything but. "It's also the first achievement that was still burdensome afterward."

I feel like she doesn't even realize that she's talking to that 'burden' right now. She turns on her heel and starts walking back towards the library. I feel my chest tightening in an array of emotions from sad, angry, hurt, more than I can list. Despite that though I just shake it off. This is how she is, that's all this is. I can't help the fact that she prioritizes herself.

I follow her back to the library where she picks her encyclopedia up and turns to look at me. "If you want to succeed in life, follow in your mother's footsteps and remember what matters. Yourself. Nothing else. Don't care for others, they only get in the way, whether they're supportive or negative, you can only rely on yourself at the end of the day." She smiles wide as though she just imparted the answer to life on me before tucking the over-sized encyclopedia under her arm and walking out. I watch her pass me, and once she's out of the room I let out a huff.

I move my bangs back into position over my eye, not having it there for so long was starting to make me anxious. I stand in the middle of the room for a long moment before shaking my head, and walking back to sit at the desk. I reach for the book, but before my hands touch it, I feel a wave of exhaustion hit me. Not a tired exhaustion, but one of disinterest.

I slink back into the chair, feeling the lack of motivation to even pick up the book consume me. I want to read it, but I just feel so out of it now that I can't bring myself to actually do it. My mind just latches onto what my mother was saying. 'Do I really just want attention for it?' Keeps on flowing through my mind. Every time it comes up I shake my head, rather weakly, trying to get the thought out of my head. I'll never be so petty... I don't think so at least. No, I don't, I don't even want people to be paying attention to me, I prefer being left alone.

I let out a soft sigh as I just slouch in the chair. Funny how I'm letting my mother's words about not caring what others think of me get the better of me. Except I can't really find it in myself to laugh at it.

I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket and I sit back up in an instant. I'm tense and fumble a bit with my pocket before I get my phone out and check it, heart pounding. I turn the screen on and look at the alert, reading the message from Merlin. 'Why are you asking me?' It's a bit of an underwhelming response but I shouldn't be surprised. I don't know why I expected her to reply, let alone have an answer. She's been about as protective as Bartra when it comes to me having a love life, not that there were many interested in having a relationship with me to begin with.

I unlock my phone and message her back, 'Dumb question I know. Don't worry about it.' I slowly inch back up into a sitting position. Watching and waiting for Merlin's response.

It takes a few moments to pass before the message pops up. 'I'm an expert at a lot of things, dating advice isn't one of them.' I puff my cheeks and think for a moment. I know I shouldn't have asked her, how could she have any experience with what I'm going through? 'However,' I tense up as I see the next message come up and I wait, holding my breath as I watch for what she has to say. 'If you think you love someone then stay with that person. Get to know who they are, and all that mushy stuff.'

I quirk an eyebrow a bit at the last bit. I've never heard Merlin say stuff, let alone mushy. It's probably just the weird question I asked and she's not sure how to respond completely. 'Alright.' I message her back. 'Thank you, Merlin! I look forward to the next time we see each other.' I smile a little as I think about Meliodas. I don't know everything about him, I don't even know much about him at all, but I can't help but feel this attraction. I don't know what it is, I just feel happy even when just thinking about him.

I turn the screen of my phone off and set it face down on the desk. I pick the book up again and turn to the first page. Finally able to start reading whatever is in store for me in this novel.

* * *

Time passes quicker than I realize. I'm only a couple chapters in when the door into the library opens and I startle, having not moved for a few hours I had gotten used to the stillness of the room. Zaneri, a short raven haired maid for my mother enters in only by a step. "Dinner is ready Ms. Deus." Again with the Ms. Deus. It just feels wrong to be called that.

"I'll be right out." I quickly respond and she nods her head before leaving, shutting the door behind her. I look around the desk for some way to mark my spot and find a small red string. I stick it in the binding and leave a bit poking out at the top before closing the book and getting up.

I walk around the desk and out of the library, walking through the halls to where I remember the dining room is. It takes about a minute of walking through halls to get to the dining room. When I enter it's empty, save for the dinner plate at one of the seats. I look around the room, as though somebody's hiding and waiting for me to sit down before joining. But that's obviously not going to happen.

I walk over to the seat with dinner plated and look around one last time, not sure why I'm alone for dinner. I'm not really used to it, as Bartra and my cousins would always eat together. Now I'm eating alone with an empty table as my only company. The one saving grace is that the food is very good. Though I would prefer having mediocre food and a family to talk to over this.

Once I finish eating, which doesn't take long without any conversations to come between eating, I sit back in my chair. I look around one last time, expecting that maybe one of the house keepers will come and explain why my mother isn't present. Except after a couple minutes of waiting I figure that it's a waste of time and stand up. I walk out of the dining room and walk halfway to my room before remembering that I left my phone in the library.

I turn on my heels and walk back. I tense at the sudden fear that my mother has found it and will look at the messages. As I'm starting to walk faster I calm myself by reassuring myself that she can't get into it, as she doesn't have my password. I reach for the door handle and yet again before I can grip it the door swings open from the other side, except this time I let out a startled yelp as I'm on edge as is.

Theo is standing in the doorway with an oblivious smile. "Ah, Elizabeth." At least he's using my first name like I asked. "I believe this is yours." I tense as he holds my phone out to me, and I take it quickly. "I was returning a book your mother was using and found it at the desk. I left the book alone, in case you wanted to leave it, but I assume that you wouldn't want to be without your phone for long." I blink a few times, taking in his words before shaking myself back to reality and nod.

"Thank you, Theo." He bows a little, and just like being called Ms. Deus, it feels wrong. "What exactly is my mother doing?" I can't help but ask. I was hoping that she would tell me herself why she was late to dinner. Yet that clearly didn't happen. Now I have to get the information from a third party, as I don't think she's interested in explaining it to me herself.

Theo hesitates for a moment, looking at the floor for a couple seconds. Evidently nobody wants to tell me anything in this house. After a few seconds though he speaks again. "Mrs. Deus is handling work. So she had her dinner in her office." I let out a short sigh. "My apologies Elizabeth."

I shake my head before offering a small smile to him. "Don't apologize, you did nothing wrong. Neither has she. She's just busy is all." I can see a glint of doubt in his eyes before nodding. "I won't hold you up, thank you again for grabbing my phone for me." I say cheerily, and he offers a smile and nod before walking down the hall. I click the screen of my phone on and look, making sure that there's no messages he could have seen, and when there's nothing there I sigh in relief.

With my phone reacquired I go back to what I was doing and head towards my room. I'm tired and after talking with my mother about my eye and meeting her, 'ass kissers' as Meliodas calls them, I'd like to be done with the day.

I open the door and step inside, closing it behind me with my foot before walking to my bed and sitting on the edge of it. I turn my phone round in my hands idly, staring off into space. I stay like this for a few minutes, thinking of nothing in particular as I just idle.

Then I remember the recording Meliodas gave me. I open my phone and find the saved recording quickly. I smile a little, remembering our mini-date at the park, turning red as I remember his warmth. The way our lips pressed together. Then the memory turns to last night and I feel my face burning hot. How he explored my body with his hands in the complete dark. I trace my fingers along where he explored, my own touch feels nothing like how it felt when Meliodas was touching me. I bite the corner of my lip a bit.

I tap the play button on the recording and the sound of hard rain instantly takes over the room. I smile as I feel my nerves relaxing at the sound. The rain outside has settled to the point that it's hardly audible anymore, so listening to the thunder and rain in the recording keeps it with me. Until a loud lightning crash sounds as though it were right next to me and I jump with a slight yelp escaping my lips.

Though it's overpowered by a 'Jesus fucking Christ' being yelled from the recording. I cover my mouth to hold a giggle at the shock Meliodas went through too, though his response is a lot harsher than my own. Followed by a faint but clear grumbling of 'Fuck you too God' I let out my chuckle completely. His willingness to curse is oddly amusing.

I set my phone down on the bedside table and lie down, relaxing to the sound of the rain and thunder, much less sudden and up close than the initial burst. I stare up at the ceiling, hands resting on my chest. I don't know if Meliodas and I will get time together like last night any time soon. It was an unexpected opportunity and I'm glad I took it, but I don't know how we'll be able to do something like it again.

I feel my face turning red with heat again. The memory of his arms holding me against him, how I got on top of him and tested my boundaries. I don't know if it was right, but I know it felt right in the moment at least. I reach one hand up and gently feel my lips as I remember all our kissing. I don't want to be without him for long. I know we have our time after school to be together but I feel like even that's so far away, especially with the cancellation due to the rain.

I reach over for my phone and pick it up, setting it so that the rain continues to play in the background as I pull up my messages with Meliodas. I look at the keyboard, and I blank. I don't know what I want to say. Do I just talk with him? What do I talk about? Last night? Future plans? I tense up, not feeling sure of myself as all these questions ping around in my head.

I don't need to engage the conversation though as before I can even start typing my phone vibrates as a message from him comes up. 'Did you make it home safely?' I blush as I realize I never told him I made it.

I message him back, 'Yeah, sorry I didn't message sooner, I was distracted.' It's an excuse, I know that, but I don't know what else to say. I hover my fingers over the keypad, trying to think of what I want to say. I move to type more, but I second guess myself and bite my lip anxiously.

'Those two didn't mess with you at all did they?' I squint for a moment not recognizing who he's talking about before it clicks. I don't know how it escaped my mind that he was worried about Mael and Ludociel being with me.

I think for a moment on what to say before responding. 'No, they were fine.' I hover my fingers over the keys for a second before adding, 'My mother was just taking all my attention.' I focus on the recorded rain, using it to keep myself calm. I don't know why my heart's racing in my chest, even though we're only texting, yet I feel my heart pounding.

It takes a few seconds but Meliodas responds. 'What did she do to you?' I tense at the question. I don't think she did anything to me, but the question implies Meliodas thinks differently. Then the memory of how he treated his friend when he swiped at my bangs surfaces in my head. Meliodas had no clue about my eye or what it means to me but he didn't hesitate to retaliate against his friend. I should have realized by now that Meliodas is defensive of me. At least I think he is.

I shake my head and refocus on my messages with Meliodas. 'Nothing. We just talked.' I'm happy that we had the phones between us for this right now because I know I wouldn't be able to look him in the eye and say that. Sure what she said bothers me but it's nothing to make a big deal out of. It's not worth making trouble over it.

'Alright. It's probably going to be a little while before school opens again. There's a lot of outages all over. We probably won't be seeing each other tomorrow.' I squirm in my bed. I already suspected that would be the case, but I still don't want it to be how things are. I want to be able to see him more... As unrealistic as it may be.

I look at my phone in silence for a minute before slowly typing out my response. 'I... Really enjoyed last night' I hesitate for a few seconds on sending it. It's the truth, but I worry that it would be inappropriate. After a second I just bite the bullet and send it. I feel my whole body tensing up, and my face turning red. I know I haven't even said anything really but just the thought is enough to bother me.

I watch the time, anxious and not sure what to do while I wait for his response. Not even a minute passes though before he messages back. 'Which part of last night? The dinner or the naked make out in my bed?' I feel my face heat up like a light-bulb instantly. I know for a fact he knows what I'm referring to and he's just trying to mess with me. It works though.

'We weren't naked.' I quickly respond. Then I realize that he was under the covers so I don't know for certain that he wasn't naked. I feel my heart testing how fast it can beat before it bursts out of my chest. 'You weren't naked were you?' I type out in a rush, though several spelling errors are made before I get it right. I squirm a bit at the thought, rubbing my thighs together absentmindedly.

'Hahah, no. But I'm glad you're thinking of me naked.' I open my mouth to retort before realizing I have nobody to give my retort to. I clamp my mouth shut and bite my lip hard. I don't entirely refuse the image but I feel wrong for thinking of it. Even the image that pops into my head has that sneaky grin that knows what he's done. Dammit.

I try to spend a couple of seconds thinking what to say. Then I smirk and start typing. 'You say that like you haven't done the same for me.' I grin, knowing that for certain he'll be flustered at being accused of thinking of me naked.

'I do.' I choke on my own shock as my already warm face gets hotter than a heat lamp. I actually cough a couple of times to gather myself back together. I feel my heart bouncing around in my chest like it's a game of pinball and it feels simultaneously awful and delightful and I don't understand it whatsoever.

It takes me a minute to think straight again and when I look at the message I just get hotter all over. 'Anyways.' I need to change the subject or else I very well may melt just from reading his teasing. 'I think I have an idea for how we can see each other. on days we can't be face-to-face.' I bite the corner of my lip, hoping he'll be interested. I don't know if it's weird to want to be able to see each other this much. Is it bad? If it's bad he'll say no and I can probably just play it off...

I wait a minute before he responds. 'I've been thinking the same thing. We could do video calls.' I smile a bit. He had the same idea I did. I'm glad that we're both on the same train of thought with this. I'd feel like a mess if he weren't, or didn't want to deal with my inexperience. I know he says he's just as inexperienced, that he has never been in a relationship either, but I still get worried about everything.

I look over at my bag. I packed a lot of essentials but I also brought my writing laptop. I'm pretty sure it has a built-in camera so that could work, I just need to set it up on the desk and it will be good. 'It would be nice to be able to see you and talk to you. Even if it's just on a screen.' It feels ridiculous how deprived I feel without him for such a short time. Yet it's just how I get, I don't know why it's just what's happening to me.

I look at his message and smile as I read his response. 'Yeah. I feel the same way.'

* * *

We agreed to try it today. Test it out and see how it works. I set up my laptop in the morning and tested out the camera and microphone to make sure it works, all built into the laptop thankfully. We have to do it late when we're both sure out parents aren't going to hear us. Which is something that I'm not sure I'll be good at judging. I've never had to sneak behind uncle Bartra's back when it came to anything, he was always supportive of anything I'd want to do. Here, it's very different.

She doesn't seem to care what I'm doing, so long as it doesn't ruin her image. Judging by how she looks at Meliodas' father, I doubt that she'll see me dating Meliodas as anything other than a massive slash across her good name.

Just like yesterday, she doesn't make any attempts to be with me outside of when we bump into each other. She doesn't show up for lunch or dinner, and I get the message that school will be back up and running Monday from Jenna instead of my mother, the principal. It's frustrating, but she's busy, I can understand that. She doesn't have an endless supply of time to spare on me, she needs to prioritize.

I'm anxious throughout the day for the video call. It's not even close to the feelings I had going to the park for our first date, but I want this to work well so that we have a way to see each other even on days that we're kept apart. I try to occupy myself by reading the novel I found but it's hard to focus with my nerves. I misread several words in my anxious reading. I never thought I'd misread the word 'set' as 'sex' not just once, but twice. The first time I laugh it off the second time I silently slink back in my chair to think about what's gotten into my head lately.

When the sun's finally set I'm sitting at my desk with my laptop up and waiting for Meliodas to call. I'm confident that my mother is asleep as she went to bed an hour ago. I thought it was overkill to have an office and bedroom separate when the two can easily fit into one room, but I'm thankful for it now as it's my signal that she's likely asleep.

I rock back and forth in my chair waiting for the call. I have one earbud in. We agreed it would help to keep noise to a minimal. No open speakers, and keeping our own voices in check. I look down at myself, Meliodas said not to worry about what I wear, that so long as I was there then there'd be no issue. I still find myself checking to make sure I look presentable.

I pet down my bangs, before double checking my blouse's buttons. I'm probably worrying more about clothes than I should be. It's not like he's going to be able to see anything below my chest, so I didn't exactly need to put on shorts but I would feel awkward even if he couldn't see anything. I'm definitely worrying too much about it, but it's too late to change now.

As if on cue for that thought my laptop lights up with the call alert. I jump a bit at the sound in my ear, getting too into my own head in anticipation for the call I forgot to be ready for the actual call. I feel my face already heating up a bit and I grumble to myself before answering the call.

I tense up when I see him, my heart pounding in my chest without hesitation. There's nothing odd about him, I just feel it happen as I see him. The room is dark but he has a lamp on next to him that's like a spotlight pointed at him. Maybe I should have done the same rather than having my room light on. It would be a bit less conspicuous, it's probably bad lighting having the room light on. I'm already messing things up I think.

"Elizabeth?" I look up and flush red as I realize I was spacing out already without even saying anything. "You look beautiful." I feel my face get hotter at the comment. "Sorry," He says with a smirk on his lips and I look at the camera, then at him. "I just felt that I need to remind you, just in case."

I rub my hand against my cheek to try and soothe my blush "Thank you." My voice is soft, barely above a whisper. I look at his sleeveless shirt and follow along his muscles idly. Then the thought of the other night pops into my head and I squirm a little. I try and refocus, looking at his green eyes as I try to change the subject. "So have you got power back then?" My voice is soft still, I'm not sure if it's too soft though.

He responds though, so that's a good sign, shaking his head slowly. "Nope. Running on the laptop's battery right now and my phone's hotspot." I raise an eyebrow and he grins playfully. "It's worth it to see you." I don't know how red I am but I'm sure that it's obvious with how hot my face is getting now. His voice is low, about as loud as my voice, but different. I don't really know how to describe it but it makes me squirm in my seat. I think he notices because he grins even wider.

I feel awkward talking over a video call like this. I've never done it before and, as much as I want to see Meliodas, it just doesn't feel the same like this. He seems to be happy with it so far at least, so that's enough to make me happy. My lips turn up in a small smile as I look at his face, practically shining with joy. Even if we're not face-to-face it makes my heart flutter to see him smiling so much. "Mel..." His eyebrows rise almost instantly, waiting for what I have to say, like it's the most important thing he'll hear. It makes me grin sheepishly.

"I love hearing you say my name." He smiles warmly and I feel my nerves light up and I lose my train of thought for a moment. I don't know how he's so good at making me so flustered if he's never been in a relationship before. Is this just how he always is? "Something on your mind?"

I shrug slightly. "No, just not sure what to talk about." I watch him look around behind me, and I see that his eye catches on something.

I look behind me and tense up as I see what he's found. I forgot that mother had one of the maids move the picture of her holding me at birth into my room. "Is that your mom?" I look back at him and he's got a small grin on his lips as he looks back to me. "I'm guessing that's the only picture your mother has of you?"

It's true, at least as far as I can tell, but it's just how she is. "She's not big on photos. She only has pictures of her achievements." I don't even realize what I'm saying until it leaves my mouth and I see Meliodas' eye narrow harshly. It sends a shiver up my spine, far from the shivers he gave me just the other night.

He looks at the picture again and then at me, losing some of the harshness in his gaze in exchange for something else I'm not too sure what is. "So that's what you are to her? An achievement?" I look down, feeling guilty, like it's my fault, but I'm not sure entirely what it is that I'm taking the fault for. "Ellie." I feel my heart skip a beat as I look back up at Meliodas. "You're not some trophy. You're a person. A beautiful and smart person. A person anyone should be thankful to have in their life. I know I am."

I feel myself getting warm all over at his words. I don't really know where it's coming from, why he's saying this, but it makes me happy to hear it, especially from him. I've not even known him for a week yet and yet he's so important to me, it feels like I've known him all my life. I smile at him and when he sees it he relaxes from his frustration over the picture. "Thank you." I mouth more than say, but I think he gets the message

We both sit for a long moment just smiling at each other. Finding all that we need in just seeing one and other. Then I glance at the time and let out a small sigh. "It's getting late..." I look back at him and he's gone from beaming to crushed. "Uncle Bartra is picking me up early to move the rest of my stuff."

He nods slowly, understanding. "I understand." He says it like a child that's just been told he can't have a toy. "Before you go," I tilt my head slightly, "Can I see your whole face, please?"

Heat rushes back into my face that I hadn't even realized had left. It's second nature for me to wear my hair over my eye at this point I keep forgetting that he wants to see it. I slowly reach up and push my bangs back behind my ear, my heart racing as I do. I feel exposed like this, but with Meliodas, I trust him to see me like this. Not that there's much he hasn't seen of me now. I'm not sure how much more he can see really.

He lets out a content sigh when I look at him. "Thank you." He says it so soft that I think I was imagining it for a moment. He makes me feel so many emotions at once with such ease, it drives me crazy. I recall what Merlin said about getting to know the person and spending time with them. I know I want to stay with Meliodas, even if most of our time together is through stolen moments. I just don't know what to say.

"Meliodas," I murmur softly. It's hardly above a whisper but he hears it, perking up with curiosity. I open my mouth to say what I want to. Wanting to get it into the air, but my throat closes up, my voice stopping before I can say a word. I close my lips again for a moment before I smile at him. "Thank you too." He turns a little red. I think he didn't realize he said his thank you aloud. I'm happy that I can make him at least a little bit as flustered as he makes me. "We'll talk more tomorrow?" I ask hopefully.

His lips turn in a wry grin. "Of course." I giggle gently. His smile is so endearing. I can't help but feel more drawn into him whenever I see it.

"Goodnight, Mel." I smile as I move my mouse to end the call, half of my body resisting, not wanting it to end, but I know I need sleep for the morning.

"Goodnight, Ellie." I feel my face heat up slightly. It's not just being called Ellie that does it, it's the way he says it more than anything. I smile as I end the call before I really get trapped in him all night. I lean back in my chair and sigh softly. I can't tell him. Not yet.


	7. Chapter 7: The Ten Troublemakers

**Hello all! It's been too long, and I'm deeply sorry for how long it's taken for me to get back to writing this. I am alive! And I won't make excuses for why it's been so long, I just hope you'll all continue to enjoy this story! Thank you as always to JacklynnFrost for being an amazing beta and thank you to you readers! I hope you're all well, I won't keep you any further, enjoy!**

Chapter 7: The Ten Troublemakers

My computer glows, the little telephone on the screen vibrating with my full attention. One earbud in my ear repeatedly plays the ringing buzz to go along with it, my heart pounding to the rhythm. I lean forward with my hands clasped together at my waist as I rock side to side in my seat. The waiting is killing me. This is the first time Elizabeth and I are video calling, I can't help but worry at the back of my head. The light from my desk lamp is hardly registering for me as I focus completely on the video call's incessant ringing.

In all fairness, it only takes a few moments for Elizabeth to pick up, it just feels like ages thanks to how nervous I'm getting. I look at Elizabeth and I can't help but grin at how she's all dressed up like she's attending an interview. I suppose even with the reassurance that dress doesn't matter she would have worn this all the same. Looking at her room it's all lit up, making it easy to inspect her room, or at least what the camera can see of her room.

Elizabeth herself doesn't seem all too confident, I can see her fidgeting and not actually looking at me, or the image of me I suppose. I'm not sure where to look either, the camera or at her.

Opting for looking at her, which overall is a far better sight than a small piece of glass, I speak up. "Elizabeth?" She looks up and flushes red. She looks like a doe caught in headlights, I can't help but bask in the sight. "You look beautiful." She fidgets and gets even more red at this. "Sorry, I just felt that I need to remind you, just in case." I'm wearing a smirk on my lips, I just can't help it when I see her.

She rubs her hand against her cheek lightly, probably trying to cover up her blushing, before speaking. "Thank you." It's hardly audible, but it's the cutest and sweetest damn thing I've heard all day. I watch her eyes wander off again, but I get the feeling that she's still looking at me, just not at my eyes. I watch her squirm around abruptly, seeming to lock her eyes on something, then after a moment her eyes shoot back up to look me in the eyes again. "So have you got power back then?" I have to strain a bit to hear her talking, though I can't blame her for that, we both need to keep quiet or else we might draw unwanted attention to ourselves.

I shake my head a bit. "Nope. Running on the laptop's battery right now and my phone's hotspot." The lamp runs on batteries, but I feel such detail is negligible "It's worth it to see you." It's annoying trying to keep my voice in check, I don't know if I'm being too quiet, but I certainly know I'm not being too loud. Then I notice Elizabeth squirming around in her seat, I don't know what it is that made her squirm now but it puts a grin on my face.

Video chatting isn't as nice as seeing her, but it's better than not seeing her. I can feel my heart jumping around every time she speaks. Her soft shy voice, it's addictive. I can't help but beam just being able to do this with her. Her eyes meet mine, or at least I think they do, it's hard to tell over video. I'm not quite sure if I need to look at the camera or the image of her. "Mel..." I tense a bit as I raise my eyebrows curiously at her. Just hearing her say my name has me on the edge of my seat. I watch her grin slightly, I don't know what at but it just makes me even happier.

"I love hearing you say my name." The words just slip out, I hardly even realize that I'm saying them by the time they're in the open. She freezes up, and I feel a little bad for interrupting what she was saying, but at the same time, it's always cute seeing her flustered. "Something on your mind?" I want to try and get her back on track, I'd feel bad if I just stopped her from something important.

She shrugs. "No, just not sure what to talk about." That's fair, I'm actually not sure what to talk about either. I try looking around behind her, since her room is lit up I think maybe I could find a topic of conversation in there. Then I see a picture of what seems like a young Mrs. Deus holding a baby in her arms.

I watch Elizabeth turn around to look at the picture and she seems to tense up for a whole different reason. I'm not sure what has her off, but knowing her mother it's probably more neglect. "Is that your mom?"She turns around to me with a startled look, I can't help but grin a bit. "I'm guessing that's the only picture your mother has of you?" It's an educated guess, I know how Mrs. Deus is, after all, I've had to deal with her for so long after all.

Elizabeth fidgets a bit before she answers. "She's not big on photos. She only has pictures of her achievements." I narrow my eyes. I know her mother is a bitch, but that seems to just be petty, labeling her own daughter as an achievement, not for what she's done but because she gave birth? There's too much wrong to count with her. Elizabeth seems to notice the anger on my face because I see her stiffen up.

Looking between her and the photo, I feel less angry and more sad. Her mother is so narcissistic that she needs to reaffirm herself by surrounding herself with her 'achievements.' It makes me physically ill just thinking about it. "So that's what you are to her? An achievement?" If that's how her mother views her, just another trophy to her collection, I need to, no I want to make sure that Elizabeth knows that she's more than that, more than what her mother makes her out to be. "Ellie." Elizabeth snaps to attention. "You're not some trophy. You're a person. A beautiful and smart person. A person anyone should be thankful to have in their life. I know I am."

She's turning redder and redder by the moment. Elizabeth smiles shyly and I feel my frustration drain a bit at the sight. "Thank you." I once again have to strain a bit to hear what she says but it sets me at ease.

Silence takes over the call for a while, I don't really know how long though as I'm just happy being able to see her, be with her. I'm not sure what I did to deserve her, but I'll do everything I can to keep her. Her eyes dart down to the corner of her screen, and I know what she's looking at. "It's getting late..." I feel the energy drain from me like a balloon. I think she can tell as she tries to cover it up by explaining herself. "Uncle Bartra is picking me up early to move the rest of my stuff."

As much as I don't want to end the call I know I can't keep her to myself all night. "I understand." I look at her a bit sullenly, then I focus on her hair. "Before you go," She tilts her head curiously, and it makes my heart skip a beat. "Can I see your whole face, please?"

Her face turns red in seconds, I can't help but grin at the sight. She takes a moment before moving. I understand it isn't easy for her, so I won't push if she says no. I watch her slowly reach up and move her hair out of the way and behind her ear. She seems nervous still, and I feel a bit worried at the back of my mind about her forcing herself to do it for me.

I can't stop myself from letting out a light sigh though. "Thank you." I'm startled for a moment, thinking I spoke the words but I'm pretty sure I kept it in my head. I don't know what it is but it feels special whenever she lets me see her like this. Maybe I'm just being sentimental, but I love seeing her completely, not hidden because of what people convinced her is a flaw.

"Meliodas," I perk up a bit when she hushes my name. It's my weakness already, her voice, and I don't mind that at all. She opens her mouth seeming to be on the edge of saying something but she stops abruptly, I don't know what it is but she's drawing me in to leave me on the edge of my seat. She really is my weakness. "Thank you, too." Fuck. I didn't say it in my head I said it out loud. Dammit. I feel my face heat up a bit. I wasn't expecting to get flustered like this. "We'll talk more tomorrow?"

I grin at her. "Of course." She lets out a giggle and I feel my heart losing more control with that simple action.

"Goodnight, Mel." It gives me so many mixed feelings hearing those words. I don't want her to go, but at the same time hearing her voice, no matter what she's saying, how she's saying it, it fills me with so much life.

"Goodnight, Ellie." I see her face go a bit more red, but before I can comment on it she ends the call, leaving me on my own. It gives me a decisive feeling of being alone. I slowly reach over and turn off the light on my desk then shut my laptop. Sitting back in my chair, I pull out my phone, checking my messages with Elizabeth. Then I grab Merlin's phone and check it.

I don't know what got into me to respond as Merlin to Elizabeth, but I feel wrong. I don't know what to do with it now. If Merlin checks and sees messages that she didn't send to Elizabeth are there... Maybe just losing the phone is the best thing for me to do. I feel awful and I regret it but it's too late to take it back. I'll figure something out at some point I guess.

I open a drawer by my bed and drop the phone inside before shutting it closed again. I'm about to put my phone on the charger when it buzzes to life. Messages in the group chat. I flick through my password and look at the messages.

Galand: I got word that the goody-two-shoes will be starting their preparations for the pep rally tomorrow.

I raise an eyebrow curiously. Though I can already guess where this whole thing is going to go. Sabotage. It's always been how things go: they do something, we mess it up with varying degrees of success. Dad always pushes us to mess up their plans because it messes with Mrs. Deus' image and so long as we don't get caught, he's blameless. Or as blameless as one can be when they have no guilt. Or morality. Or soul.

Melascula: I hope you're bringing a bit more than that. If that's all you have to say you're really just selling your all-brawn-no-brain look.

Galand: Of course I have more than that!

Monspeet: Get on with it then. The dramatics really aren't necessary.

Derieri: hm

Fraudrin: Everyone needs to be here before we can start planning otherwise we'll just have to repeat things.

Galand: Fraudrin understands. We need to make sure everyone is online.

Melascula: It's late, I'm certain that they'll read up in the morning.

I feel tempted to cut in but it's amusing to watch them flounder around a bit without direction. They always need me to give them some level of guidance to function. Zeldris is also pretty good at leading but he, more often than not, defers to me on things. I doubt that they'd ever get anything done if it weren't for me. Not to say that they aren't fully functioning on their own, but as a team, they can't get much done.

Melascula: Why are you four up anyways?

Derieri: ?

Monspeet: ? = We could ask you the same question, why are you up yourself? It shouldn't matter why any of us are up, the sooner we get this done the sooner we can all sleep. Correct?

Derieri: hm

Melascula: You two are insufferable.

Gloxinia: Play nice you guys, it wouldn't be fun for us to turn on each other when we could be focused on making the goody-two-shoes teacher's pets struggle through their days.

Fraudrin: I never get tired of you ex-teacher's pets wanting to make the new pets suffer.

Drole: We never were teacher's pets. We just helped them.

Galand: What's the difference?

Zeldris: Who are we still waiting for?

Melascula: Grayroad and your brother.

Zeldris: I'll update Meliodas on things in the morning. Fraudrin, what's taking Grayroad?

Fraudrin: What am I? Her boyfriend?

Zeldris: ...

Monspeet: ...

Derieri: ...

Gloxinia: ...

Fraudrin: The next person to put dots is going to regret it.

Galand: ...

Galand: Hold on I sent that before you said that!

Fraudrin: I hate you all.

Zeldris: Just answer the question.

Fraudrin: Asleep probably. She isn't insane like the rest of us and I doubt she stays up that late knowing how tired she always is.

Grayroad: I've been awake, just haven't said anything.

Fraudrin: YOU COULDN'T HAVE SAID THAT SOONER?!

Grayroad: I was in a raid.

Melascula: Raid? I didn't know Grayroad was a vandal.

Grayroad: Not explaining how wrong that is. Just get on with it I'll read it after the next wipe probably.

Grayroad: Also next time Fraudrin takes offense at being referred to as my boyfriend somebody kick him.

Fraudrin: I'm nOT!

-Fraudrin has been removed from the group by Grayroad.-

Zeldris: Why did Meliodas make you an admin of the group?

Grayroad: I can handle technology better than all of you.

Zeldris: Just invite him back so Galand can get to the point of whatever he was on about.

-Fraudrin has been added to the group by Grayroad.-

Fraudrin: That was just petty.

Zeldris: Get to the point Galand, if you fell asleep now I'm going to snap you in half the next time I see you.

Galand: No need to make threats, I already have it all typed up.

Melascula: Then send it.

Galand: ...

Gloxinia: You forgot to copy it before deleting it didn't you?

Galand: One minute...

Derieri: Idiot.

Monspeet: Idiot = Idiot.

Galand: There was no need to translate that!

I shake my head and set the phone down on my desk. As much as I would love to take part in this sabotage planning I want to get to sleep sooner rather than later. I'll just let Zeldris explain it in the morning on our way into school. It will also be a lot easier on my patience to have him explain the final plan than to work through it with those eight with him.

Lying back in my bed I look up at the ceiling of my room. I just hope whatever they end up planning doesn't end up hurting Elizabeth. Knowing her mother she might well have her help the four pets. So whatever gets decided I'm going to be more focused on making sure Ellie is away from any of it.

I feel my eyelids getting heavy and slowly they close shut on me, leaving me in darkness. Not long after I feel myself drifting to sleep.

* * *

"Mel!" I feel a hand strike me across my face and I startle awake. Hands propping me up on my bed as I look to find Zeldris with his arms crossed strikingly fast for having just struck me himself. "Get a move on dad's dragging us to school, and I need to update you on things." He's rather businesslike in his manners for someone who's half-naked. He must have come straight here after waking up.

I slide myself out of bed and stretch as I get up. "What's he dragging us to school for? Isn't power still out there? And what do you need to update me on?" I know he's referring to whatever everyone schemed up last night, but to imply that I already know would tell him I left him alone to deal with it himself. A slap in the face is one thing, I don't want to know what he'd do if he found out I had left him on his own on purpose.

He shakes his head as he walks out of my room. "I'll explain when we get to school. Just get moving already." I shrug off his curtness since he's likely tired still. Not from sleep but dealing with the eight lunatics we call friends. "Oh, and I have the shower first." Before I can object he shuts the door on me and has likely already taken off to secure his foothold in the bathroom. I sigh, with that I'll be lucky to even get a shower.

I grab my phone and check it for any messages, and it seems to be filled with miles of group chat messages, far more than I'm willing to read in one sitting as I can already see that more than one argument broke out as I scroll through. The fact that we're all still friends is a bit of a wonder to me or a curse. I'm still deciding which it is.

At the end of all the alerts regarding the group chat messages, there's one message from Elizabeth just a few minutes ago. It's a simple 'good morning', but it makes me feel light on my feet with that alone. I unlock my phone and quickly return the 'good morning' before shutting it off and walking to my wardrobe to get my clothes together for after the shower.

With that settled, I walk out with my clothes and stand outside the bathroom and wait. I vaguely hear our father talking downstairs, likely on the phone with someone. Though it does feel a little early to be making work calls. He must have gotten up even earlier than Zeldris did if he's already starting his day.

It's a bit of a wait, as I expected, but eventually, he comes out as he slips on his shirt. "Hurry it up. Don't want to wait longer than we have to." I roll my eyes. You'd almost think he's the older brother here with how he's acting. Not giving him a chance to be bossier I slip into the bathroom behind him and close the door between us before locking it tight. I breathe a sigh of relief as I set my clothes down on the sink counter.

I turn the shower on and give it a second to heat up again, going through a short spurt of cold before returning to hot, arguably boiling temperatures. Thinking about it I conclude that Elizabeth is probably in the shower too right now... Wait no! Bad! I shake my head of the thought before it can fully manifest. Dreaming is one thing, I can't help what happens in a dream, day-dreaming is another thing entirely. Though the fact that I won't see her for the morning classes today with her moving stuff with her uncle rubs me the wrong way a bit.

I let out a tense sigh as I step into the shower and start washing up. I don't know what terrible schemes everyone put together last night, and if I have to be honest I wish that we'd just leave well enough alone. This is our last year here and I'd rather not waste it just screwing with those angelic pricks. Though I suppose to the others that it's quite the opposite and that they see this as their last year to really screw with them. I wonder if I'd be thinking the same if not for Elizabeth.

I don't see any reason to worry about her though. If anything I just have to make sure that she doesn't get involved in any of the actual activities until after the pep rally and the likely debacle that it's going to become after the others have their way with the prep work. As far as I can tell though Elizabeth doesn't seem all too interested in joining a club. She seems content to keep to her studies and her studies alone.

With my thoughts, all gathered I turn off the shower and step out to dry off and get dressed. Taking a quick minute to brush my teeth. With all the cleanup work done I head out of the bathroom and head downstairs to catch up with Zel. Though I'm stopped at the top of the stairs as I spot Zel just sitting on the steps halfway down.

I walk down to stand next to him and he turns, holding his index finger to his lips to tell me to keep quiet. Then I realize what he's eavesdropping on. "Yes, sir I'm glad to hear it! No, you don't have to worry it was no trouble at all, the weather was just a fun little challenge for the evening I'd say." He must be talking with the superintendent. He would never talk subserviently to anyone else. "Yes I know no amount of ass-kissing will convince you to support my request. Er... Yes, sir... I'll shut up now. Have a good day sir." We can't see him from the stairs, as he's off in the living room, but evidently he didn't think to close the door. "You two better get in the car or else you're walking." A shiver runs up my spine and I can tell Zeldris experiences the same fear response as we both bolt for the door.

* * *

Zeldris and I are sat in the library. Despite school being canceled due to the power being out here and many roads still being blocked by debris. Most times I would be thrilled about school being canceled, but because it's cutting into my time with Elizabeth I can't say I'm happy at all. "So what is it that you needed to update me about?" I ask Zel, and he sighs in exasperation. Clearly he's still reeling from taking the lead role last night.

"Don't bother reading the group chat to try and catch up, we'll never see you again if you do." I find that rather overdramatic but simultaneously believe it all the same. "Apparently Deus' precious angels are going to be working on the pep rally over the next week or so and Galand has the details on everything they have planned already. Don't ask how because it's a stupid string of sources." Knowing Galand he obviously couldn't have gotten the information on his own.

"Skipping over the reliability of this information, what is it that we're planning to do exactly?" As much as I'm all for embarrassing the angels I don't really care to lose potential Elizabeth time over this.

Zeldris sits back and keeps his eyes on me as he explains. "We're not doing anything large scale or extravagant for this. If that's what you're worried about. We're keeping things simple. At the end of the rally, the angels are going to be doing an announcement themselves. Wishing everyone luck in their year, blah blah blah. So basic stuff. The others wanted to go big but I told them to stuff it and save it for something a bit more interesting, like graduation." Thank goodness for that. "We have everything planned out so you don't actually need to do anything. Save you the trouble."

What? I'm not involved in this? "Wait I figured you were telling me this so that you could give me my role in the plan?" I'm confused now. Is this some kind of backward punishment for not being there for the planning?

He shakes his head. "No. Just saving you the trouble of looking through that cursed group chat." He reaches into his bag and pulls out a notebook before grabbing a pen. "Besides, I figured you had more important things to worry about than setting up some stupid gag on Deus' angels to keep the others entertained."

I don't know if he's referring to Elizabeth or if he's just trying to redirect the work so that I take a harder job down the road in his place. "Thanks for that." I'll give him the benefit of the doubt this time. I pull out my phone and head to my messages.

"Just make sure that the next time they get rowdy that you're there to play leader. If I have to do it alone again I'm going to wind up killing someone." With that last statement, he starts working through notes in his notebook.

I just nod in response as I check my messages with Elizabeth. Nothing's happened since the good mornings. I don't think it's healthy to hang on her every word, or in this case message, like this but I can't help it. Every moment with her is better than the last and I don't want it to stop. It then clicks in my head that she's picking up stuff with her uncle right now so bothering her now probably isn't what she wants.

I move to put it back into my pocket when I feel it buzz in my hand and I snap it back up and feel my heart skip a beat all at once. 'I'm at school now that the moving is done.' Wait, how early did she get up to do this moving? And why is she here rather than home?

I shrug the thought off and message her back, 'Where are you?' If we can spend time together this morning then I'm going to take it no questions asked. I stand up and make my way out of the library. I hardly pay attention to the confused Zeldris calling after me.

My eyes are locked on my phone but my body is on the move without hesitation. I don't even know where I'm going I just want to be ready to head wherever Elizabeth is. As if on cue she answers my question. 'The spot you showed me.' I can just imagine her blushing saying that. Her red face and shy voice. I'm moving faster as I rush to meet her there.

I'm halfway up the hill to see her before I really process it. I can feel my face turned up in a smile already and I'm not even there yet.

It doesn't take me much longer to reach our spot and I see Elizabeth looking down at her phone. I smile as I look at the back of her head, glad to finally see her in person again. I don't care how long it's been, any amount of time without her has become unbearable. I need her.

She doesn't seem to have noticed me yet, too fixed on whatever she's looking at. I grin as an idea sparks in my mind. I walk up to her seat on the bench quietly, being sure to avoid any noise. Once I'm directly behind her I lean down so I'm next to her ear. "Yo." Ellie immediately yelps in surprise and nearly jumps off the bench, turning to look at me with her hand over her heart. I let out a chuckle at her shock. She lets out a sigh of relief realizing that it's me.

"Please don't do that again, I was worried when you didn't say anything back." Her voice is a bit soft with the second bit but I don't let any of her words slip by me. That explains what she was so fixated on though.

I feel a bit ashamed now for surprising her like that. I rub the back of my head awkwardly and give her an apologetic smile. "Heheh, sorry about that..." It probably wasn't the best choice on my part.

She lets out a chuckle and pats the seat next to her. "I forgive you." There's never been anything more reassuring in my life than those words from her right here and now. I walk around the bench and set my bag down next to it as I sit next to her, looking out over the view, more specifically the calm sky. There are still some clouds in the sky, but for the most part, the early morning sun isn't having trouble lighting up the world.

Before long though I find myself turning to look at Elizabeth instead. She still has her eye covered up but I won't bug her about it. She looks beautiful regardless of how she wears her hair. I gently wrap an arm around her waist and pull her a little closer to me. She leans against me and rests her head on my shoulder, still looking at the view. Though at this point I'm fully fixed on her.

A few minutes pass before she sits up and looks at me now. She's turned a bit red and I raise a curious eyebrow. After a moment she wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me into a kiss. I happily return the action, wrapping my other arm around her waist and holding her gently as we press our lips together. After a moment she pulls back, more red than before. "I'm sorry... I've just been waiting so long to do that again..."

A chuckle escapes my lips as I shake my head. "So have I." I lean in to kiss her again, and she lets me. It's slow, and not overly heated, but gentle and determined. I don't want to have to let her go, and I'm going to hold on for as long as I can. The feel of her soft lips on mine, the touch of her arms gently against my neck. I can feel my senses working twice as hard around her just to savor every little piece of every moment.

It takes about a minute before we need to pull away to take a few proper breaths of air. I press my forehead softly against hers, just wanting to stay connected with her. I'm not sure if the fact that we have to steal these moments alone so that nobody knows makes me love her more but I don't want to have to limit our time together so much. I don't want the secrecy of this relationship to be what makes it so amazing, it's her. She's the reason I feel this way.

"I wish we could stay up here like this forever." Her voice is soft and as gentle as her touch, and I hang off her words like I always do. "But why are you at school today?"

It's a fair question, and I'm going to ask her the same question after I've answered. "Dear dad dragged me and Zel here while he does something, no clue or real care as to what. I'm just glad I can be here with you. Now, why are you here exactly? I thought you were moving stuff with your uncle?"

She nods a bit, at least confirming that was what she said. "I was up a few hours ago, uncle Bartra likes to do things early in the morning. Afterward, he dropped me off here since my mother is apparently here too. Something about meeting with the superintendent. I assume that's why your father is here too." I nod, figuring that must be the case. I don't much care for the reason though, it means I can see Elizabeth far sooner than had been expected.

I wrap my arms a little tighter around her, hugging her against me. Just feeling her warmth is enough to brighten my day. I don't want to lose this, and I won't if I can help it. Merlin knowing shouldn't be a problem. If word got out Elizabeth might be in trouble and Merlin definitely doesn't want that. Zeldris won't let anything slip out because he's also hiding a relationship from our father. I doubt anyone else can be trusted with knowing about this in the slightest. Especially none of my friends or Deus' angels. As much as I like my friends I can hardly trust them with this, and Deus' angels will do anything to get more favor with her.

"How long do you think we have?" I ask the question softly as I tip my head a bit and press my lips against her shoulder. I can't really give much of a guess, though I know for a fact that my dad isn't going to wait for me to show up again once he's ready to leave.

Elizabeth shivers a bit at the touch and I love how much she responds to every little thing I do. "I don't know... Bartra didn't say and mother never even mentioned the meeting to me." Her arms around my neck pull me a bit closer and I feel my heart skip a beat.

I'm not sure how much time passes with us just holding each other, basking in the other's touch. It's the best silence I've ever experienced and time doesn't really matter so long as it's spent with her. I'm not sure if I could survive the embarrassment that might come with saying these sappy lines aloud. The privacy of my own mind is appreciated.

I pull away a bit and look at her, taking in the sight of her, taking the chance to bask in her beauty directly. She's red and avoiding looking directly at me. I chuckle lightly and reach a hand up, moving slowly before stopping with my hand just before her face. She winces a bit at first, though she nods after a moment. I don't want to startle her or force her if she's uncomfortable. "May I?" I ask in a whisper.

She chuckles softly before returning the whisper. "Yes..." She's so small. At least in mannerisms and presence, I'm still smaller than her on a technical level. I shift my hand slowly to move her hair back, revealing her red eye. I can't help but feel special, I'm the only person she trusts with this, and it's my special treat I suppose. I wouldn't say that I think she's more beautiful like this, rather the beauty is in a different way? I don't know, I'm no poet. All I know is no matter how I look at her I feel like my heart is going to strangle itself.

I caress her cheek gently once I've pushed her hair back behind her ear. I can feel her leaning into the touch and watch her close her eyes, content. I feel my face starting to cramp up a bit from how much I've been smiling but the pain is worth it. Elizabeth is worth any pain. Keeping one hand on her cheek my other arm wraps around her waist and holds her closer as I lean in and continue our kiss.

My thumb gently rubs her cheek as I tilt my head to lean deeper into the kiss. I'd say I relish the silence, but that wouldn't be wholly true, as it's not quite silent with the sound of our lips pressing together filling my ears.

Pulling on her a bit to try and get her closer somehow, she swings a leg over mine and sits on top of my leg. To say that my heart feels like it's jumping up my throat would be an understatement. My blood is rushing, and I can feel it flooding into my cheeks. Though if it feels like this for me, I can guess with a level of certainty that she's several levels worse.

I'm not sure how much more I can take before I snap, I feel her pressing into me and I swear our heartbeats are in sync. Every movement, every twitch and breathless shiver, it feels like my senses are going crazy. Every little detail of her and myself feel like it's being heightened beyond what it should be.

Her hands wrap tight around my neck, holding me as though at any moment I might try and escape this. That's simply not going to be the case though, and it never will be.

Then a loud ringing and buzzing emanate from my pocket, causing us both to jump a bit and in the process, knock our foreheads together. We reel back a bit from each other, startled, and rubbing our heads. I open an eye to see Elizabeth wincing as she rubs her head, and her face is as crimson as I would imagine. Though I'm not far behind her.

I pull out my phone, hoping that I can just shut it off and toss it aside, returning my focus to Elizabeth. Sadly, that isn't the case. It's Zel. I glance at Elizabeth, hoping that she understands, but she's smiling sheepishly at me, giving me a small nod as permission. I feel awful despite being given the go-ahead. I swipe to answer the call and hold it to my ear. "I swear Zel this better be-"

"Dad is about ready to leave without you. And trust me, he's not in a mood where he's happy to ditch you today." That's rich, I'm sure if he had the opportunity he would have ditched both of us in a garbage can. "Something has him ticked more than usual. So unless you want us both to get our necks wrung out could you get your ass back here?"

Damnit. Why now? Hell. I look at Elizabeth, and she's still as red as before, avoiding looking at me, yet she hasn't moved from sitting on my leg. I do my best to imprint this image into my head, as I don't know when I'll get to see it next. "Just wait a bit," I tell Zel.

"I'll give you a bi-" I hang up before he can start cussing me out. Elizabeth snaps to attention, looking at me a bit worried. What she's worried about I can't quite place my finger on. Whether she's worried about this ending, what happened over the phone, or some mysterious third option, I don't know.

" I need to go." She deflates a bit at the words and I feel like my heart stops for a second at the sight. "My dad and brother are waiting for me." I try to explain, hoping that it earns me back at least a little bit of the happiness that Elizabeth breathes into the world.

Thankfully she gives me a half-smile, and I feel myself relax from a tension I didn't even know was there. "If your father is leaving then my mother likely is too…" She's sullen, and I wish I could take that disappointment away, that we could stay here, like this, forever. But that's not reality. "Just promise we'll see each other again soon? In-person."

I nod, it's not a hard promise to make, as I don't think I'll survive long without her. These moments, seeing her and being able to spend time with her to any degree, experiencing her smile, her warmth is what I live for. I know I might be a bit too attached already, but I'll never give her up. "I promise."


End file.
